(Aug 30): A Malaysian financier accused of looting billions from investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, has hired several politically connected lawyers in the US to defend his interests in a sprawling Justice Department investigation.

Low Taek Jho -- also known as Jho Low, who is wanted in Malaysia for money laundering and has been described in US court filings as the man who orchestrated the theft of more than US$4 billion ($5.5 billion) from 1MDB -- has retained former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and one of President Donald Trump’s go-to law firms, Kasowitz Benson Torres, among others.

Christie, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 before dropping out and endorsing Trump, set up his own law firm earlier this year after serving out his second term as New Jersey’s governor. He is representing Low in the civil forfeiture case brought against his properties by the US Attorney’s office in Los Angeles, according to his spokesman Pete Sheridan.

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