神祕馬來西亞人 紐約豪宅交易的幕後操盤手(2)

The Making of a Financier

造就一個金融家

To mention Mr. Low in Malaysia is to conjure the image of a baby-faced young man in rimless glasses and a loose black V-neck, Holding a magnum of Cristal and surrounded by celebrities. But if he is sometimes derided as a tabloid party boy who once flew a group of bottle girls from New York to Malaysia, the reality is that the clubbing life, for Mr. Low, was actually a way to build a booming business managing money for his friends.

在馬來西亞提到劉特佐，在人們心目中喚起的形象是長着一張娃娃臉、戴着無框眼鏡的年輕男子，他身穿寬鬆的黑色V領衫，手拿一瓶水晶香檳(Cristal)，站在一羣名人中間。如果說他有時被嘲笑爲常上小報的花花公子，還曾把一羣倒酒女郎(bottle girls)從紐約用飛機接到到馬來西亞，但現實情況卻是，這種泡吧生活是劉特佐打造一個幫助朋友管錢的蓬勃業務的方式。

“I think a relationship with an investor is not just about managing their money well,” he said in an extensive interview with The Star, a Malaysian newspaper, in 2010. “Although it is not in my job scope, but if my friend says he wants a flight urgently to somewhere or he wants a dinner reservation at a well-known place, I’ll do my best to make it happen.” He also said, “I am usually the concierge service that arranges everything, and thus my name is all over the place.”

“我覺得，與投資者的關係不只是管好他們的錢，”他在2010年馬來西亞報紙《星報》(The Star)對他的長篇採訪中說。“如果我的朋友說，他需要緊急飛往某個地方、或他想在一個知名飯館預訂晚餐，雖然這不在我的工作範圍之內，但我會盡我所能做成這事。”他還表示，“我是那種提供一切安排的禮賓服務者，因此，所有的地方都有我的名字。”

Around George Town, on Penang Island, where Jho grew up, the Lows were seen as a family of somewhat deflated affluence, according to several businessmen who have known them for years. The father, Larry, was an executive for an investment holding company called MWE Holdings, but he split with his partner in the mid-1990s and faded from the local business scene. Still only a teenager, Jho, the youngest of three children, emerged as the family’s best hope for the future.

幾名與劉家相識多年的商人表示，在劉特佐長大的檳榔嶼喬治市，人們認爲劉家已經有些敗落。他的父親劉福平(Larry Low)曾是一家名爲MWE Holdings的投資控股公司的高管。但是，上世紀90年代中期，他與合作伙伴發生糾紛，之後漸漸從當地商界消失。劉特佐是家裏三個孩子中最小的一個，當時還只是一名少年的他，成了劉家未來最大的希望。

There was money for education abroad, and in London, while attending the ancient and elite Harrow school, Mr. Low became friends with Mr. Najib’s stepson, Mr. Aziz, who was studying at the London School of Economics. He also grew close to Mr. Aziz’s mother, Rosmah Mansor, who stayed for months at a time in an apartment she kept there.

家裏仍有用於留學的錢。劉特佐在倫敦古老的精英學校哈羅公學(Harrow School)就讀時，與納吉布的繼子阿齊茲成了朋友。阿齊茲當時在倫敦政治經濟學院(London School of Economics)學習。他與阿齊茲的母親羅斯瑪·曼梳(Rosmah Mansor)的關係也密切起來。她會去自己位於英國的一所公寓，一待就是幾個月。

In college, at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Low kept up his ties back home by running a Malaysian student group. But he also came to know the children of prominent Jordanian and Kuwaiti families. Even before graduating, he was managing money for what he later described as “my family and close Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian friends.”

在賓夕法尼亞大學(University of Pennsylvania)的沃頓商學院(Wharton School)讀大學期間，劉特佐通過管理一個馬來西亞學生團體，與馬來西亞保持着聯繫。不過，他也結識了約旦和科威特名門望族的子弟。他在畢業之前，就已經開始爲他人管理基金，他形容那些人是“我的家人，以及中東和東南亞的親密朋友”。

After college, many of his early business deals were based in Malaysia — helping a Kuwaiti bank purchase a high-rise complex called the Oval, and bringing Middle Eastern money into the country to finance a commercial zone in the south and a new financial district in the capital. By 2007, he had formed an investment group that included a Malaysian prince, a Kuwaiti sheikh and a friend from the United Arab Emirates who went on to become ambassador to the United States and Mexico.

大學畢業後，他最初的許多商業交易都是在馬來西亞開展的——幫一家科威特銀行購買了叫做Oval的高層樓宇，並把中東的資金引入馬來西亞，爲南部的一個商業區和吉隆坡的一個新金融區提供資金。到2007年時，他已經成立了一個投資集團，參與其中的包括一名馬來西亞王子、一名科威特謝赫，以及阿聯酋的一位友人。後來，這位友人成了阿聯酋駐美國和墨西哥的大使。

Two years later, he was pitching his idea for a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. His plan was to invest public money for the public good through a fund tied to one of the country’s oil-producing states, and so he began wooing the sultan of Terengganu, who was also Malaysia’s king under the nation’s rotating monarchy.

兩年後，他就開始四處推介建立一個馬來西亞主權財富基金的想法。他計劃通過與該國一個產油州有聯繫的基金，使用公共資金開展投資爲公衆謀利，所以他開始拉攏登嘉樓州的蘇丹。根據馬來西亞輪流擔任君主的體制，這位蘇丹當時是馬來西亞的最高元首。

It was all about making connections, making friends. Success, he told The Star, is “attributable to being at the right place and right time and meeting the right people coupled with a trusting relationship.”

最重要的是拉關係和交朋友。他告訴《星報》，成功“就是要在正確的時間處在正確的位置，遇見正確的人，再加上互相信任的關係”。

In April 2009, those ingredients all came together for Mr. Low. The stepfather of his friend Mr. Aziz became prime minister of Malaysia.

對於劉特佐而言，這些要素在2009年4月結合在了一起。他的朋友阿齊茲的繼父，當上了馬來西亞總理。

A Political Legacy

政治遺產

Mr. Najib, 61, has a deep pedigree in Malaysian politics. His father, Tun Razak, was the country’s second prime minister, in the 1970s. His uncle was its third. His cousin is now defense minister.

61歲的納吉布與馬來西亞政治有着很深的淵源。他的父親敦拉扎克(Tun Razak)是上世紀70年代馬來西亞的第二任總理。他的舅父是馬來西亞第三任總理，他的表弟是現任國防部長。

Mr. Najib has risen through the political ranks: member of Parliament at 23; chief minister of his home state; minister of education, defense and finance; and deputy prime minister.

納吉布在政治體系中步步高昇：23歲時擔任國會議員；之後在家鄉所在州擔任州務大臣；繼而擔任教育、國防和財政部長；後來擔任副總理。

The family is tightly intertwined with Malaysia’s leading political party, the United Malays National Organization, whose long hold on power owes much to its close relationship with the country’s business elite. That closeness, in turn, has helped engender a culture of corruption, said Zaid Ibrahim, a former minister of legal affairs and judicial reform who served alongside Mr. Najib. Inflated government contracts are the norm, widely accepted because recipients simply turn around and donate to the party, he said.

他的家族與馬來西亞最重要的政黨馬來民族統一機構（The United Malays National Organization，簡稱巫統）之間的關係十分密切。這個家族之所以能夠長期掌權，主要還是因爲它與馬來西亞的商界精英關係親密。然而，這種親密關係反過來又催生了一種腐敗文化，曾擔任部長負責法律和司法改革事務的再益·依布拉欣(Zaid Ibrahim)說。再益曾與納吉布同時擔任部長。他說，誇大金額的政府合約十分常見，而這種合約之所以被廣泛接受，原因在於拿到合約的商人，會反過來爲巫統捐錢。

“You know why corruption is very high in Malaysia?” he said. “It’s because the party in power is synonymous with the state.”

“你知道馬來西亞的腐敗程度爲什麼這麼高嗎？”他說。“因爲執政黨就等同於政府。”

That point was underscored in the State Department’s 2010 human rights report, which said, “Officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity” and noted “a broadly held perception of widespread corruption and cronyism within the governing coalition and in government institutions.”

美國國務院(State Department)發佈的2010年度人權報告中也強調了這一點。報告稱，“官員經常肆無忌憚地從事腐敗活動”，並指出“人們普遍認爲，執政聯盟和政府機構內，廣泛存在腐敗和任人唯親的現象”。

There have been no proven corruption allegations against Mr. Najib. However, he has been dogged by questions, seized upon by his political opponents, stemming from a long-running bribery inquiry in France involving submarines he commissioned from a French company while he was defense minister.

儘管針對納吉布的腐敗指控，目前還沒有哪一項得到證實，但他一直被各種問題所困擾，被政治對手抓住不放。這些問題源於法國一項長期的賄賂調查，與他擔任國防部長期間，從一家法國公司訂購潛艇一事有關。

The French national police found documents showing that the submarine company paid more than $100 million to a company controlled by one of Mr. Najib’s close associates. In addition, one police document says, without elaboration, that Mr. Najib demanded money in exchange for a 2001 meeting in Paris.

法國警方發現的文件顯示，那家潛艇公司向一家由納吉布的親信控制的公司，支付了超過1億美元。此外，一份警方文件還稱，納吉布還曾索要錢財，以此換取2001年在巴黎舉行一次會議，但文件中並未詳述相關情形。

Malaysian officials said the payments to the company controlled by Mr. Najib’s associate were for “support and coordination services”; the prime minister’s office said he received no payments and did not demand any.

馬來西亞官員稱，向納吉布的親信控制的公司支付款項，是用於開展“支持和協調服務”；總理辦公室稱，他並沒有收到任何款項，也沒有要求對方付款。

Mr. Najib, who earns an annual salary of about $100,000 as prime minister, has been battered by news media reports of his wife’s lavish spending. A notable episode involved the Birkin bags: A series of photos that went viral on social media in Malaysia showed Ms. Rosmah holding at least nine of the purses. They typically cost between $9,000 and $150,000 apiece.

作爲總理，納吉布的年薪約爲10萬美元。由於媒體對他妻子的揮霍進行了報道，他也受到了衝擊。其中一個著名事件與柏金包有關：馬來西亞社交網絡上廣泛傳播的一系列照片顯示，羅斯瑪拿着至少九個手包，其價格通常在每個9000美元到15萬美元之間。

Ariff Sabri, an aide to Mr. Najib from 2000 to 2004 who joined the opposition in 2012, said the prime minister kept “piles and piles” of ringgit bills stacked in his safe. And invoices and other documents obtained by The Times show millions of dollars in jewelry ordered for Ms. Rosmah in Hong Kong in 2008 and 2009 — diamond and emerald rings, and diamond, emerald and ruby bracelets.

曾在2000年到2004擔任納吉布助理的阿里夫·沙比利(Ariff Sabri)於2012年加入了反對派。他說，總理在保險箱裏放着“成堆成堆的”馬來西亞令吉。時報取得的其他票據和文件顯示，2008年和2009年，在香港爲羅斯瑪訂購的珠寶就有數百萬美元之多，其中有鑽石和翡翠戒指，還有用鑽石、翡翠和紅寶石製成的手鐲。

The prime minister’s office said, “Neither any money spent on travel, nor any jewelry purchases, nor the alleged contents of any safes are unusual for a person of the prime minister’s position, responsibilities and legacy family assets.”

總理辦公室稱，“對於一個高居總理職位、肩負着重要責任，並且擁有家族遺產的人來說，花錢旅行或購買珠寶，以及據稱放在保險箱裏的財物，都不足爲奇。”

For some people who have long known Mr. Najib, the lavish lifestyle that appeared to evolve with his second marriage, to Ms. Rosmah in 1987, has been a surprising — even dismaying — turn for a modest technocrat.

對於那些很早就認識納吉布的人來說，這種奢侈的生活方式與過去那個低調的技術官僚相比，是一個出人意料、甚至令人沮喪的轉變。轉變發生在1987年與第二任妻子羅斯瑪結婚之後。

Last year, Mr. Najib’s younger brother, Nazir, wrote a newspaper column that tacitly jabbed at the current prime minister by praising the frugality of their father, a career government official who died in office at age 53.

去年，納吉布的弟弟納西爾(Nazir)給報紙寫了一篇專欄文章，通過讚揚他們父親的節儉，對現任總理進行了暗諷。他們的父親是一名職業政府官員，53歲時在任上去世。

When he and his brothers had asked for a swimming pool at the prime minister’s residence, Mr. Nazir wrote, “My father made it abundantly clear that while Seri Taman may be our home, the house belonged to the government and, hence, to the people. Anything spent on it would have to come from public funds, and there was no way he was going to allow the state coffers to be depleted on something as frivolous as a swimming pool. ‘What will the people think?’ he thundered.”

納西爾寫道，當他和兄弟們提出想在總理府修建一個游泳池時， “父親非常清楚地告訴我們，斯里塔曼(Seri Taman)或許是我們的家，但房子屬於政府，所以它屬於人民。它所有的開支都來自公共資金，他絕不允許國庫的資金都用在游泳池這種無足輕重的事情上。‘人民會怎麼想？’他怒喝道。”

The Fund

投資基金

Mr. Low’s business romance with Malaysia’s king, it turned out, was short lived. But the new prime minister, Mr. Najib, was happy to have a way to benefit the nation writ large, and the sovereign wealth fund soon morphed into a new one, called 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

事實證明，劉特佐與馬來西亞元首的生意關係並不長久。但是，新任總理納吉布很高興有辦法能讓代表這個國家的那羣人獲益。主權財富基金很快演變成了一家名爲“一個馬來西亞發展有限公司”（1Malaysia Development Berhad，簡稱1MDB）的新基金。

Mr. Najib became chairman of the board of advisers of 1MDB, which calls itself a “strategic development company.” A close Penang friend of Mr. Low’s father became a director, and two of Mr. Low’s friends joined the staff. Mr. Low himself was not given an official role, but he is regularly consulted on its actions, according to three people who have had regular dealings with 1MDB but requested anonymity to preserve relationships.

納吉布成了1MDB顧問委員會的主席，該公司自稱是一家“戰略發展公司”。劉特佐的父親在檳城的一位密友擔任公司董事，劉特佐的兩位朋友也加入了該公司。與1MDB時常有業務往來的三人表示，劉特佐並未擔任正式職務，但公司經常向他尋求建議。爲了維持業務關係，這三人要求匿名。

In his statement to The Times, Mr. Low played down his role in 1MDB, saying that “from time to time and without receiving compensation,” he has given his views on various matters.

劉特佐在給時報的聲明中淡化了他在1MDB中的作用，說他會“時不時地，在不收取報酬的情況下”爲各種事情提供建議。

While Mr. Low has no official position with the fund, in 2012 it emerged in British court documents that he had presented a letter of support from 1MDB in his investors’ unsuccessful bid for the hotel group that includes Claridge’s. He also said the financing would be fully underwritten by Malaysian government investment funds, according to the documents.

雖然劉特佐在基金中沒有任何正式職務，但是2012年，英國法院的文件表示，在他代表的投資者試圖以15億美元競購擁有凱萊奇酒店(Claridge’s)的一家酒店集團時，他拿出了1MDB發出的一封支持信。文件顯示，他還曾表示，馬來西亞政府的投資基金將爲此次融資提供擔保。那次競購最後未獲成功。

Mr. Low and 1MDB also had dealings with an oil-drilling company called PetroSaudi International that had been founded by a Saudi businessman and a Saudi prince.

劉特佐和1MDB還與一家叫做沙特石油國際公司(PetroSaudi International)的石油開採企業有業務往來，這家公司的創始人是一個沙特商人和一個沙特王子。

Soon after its creation, 1MDB invested $1 billion in a joint venture with PetroSaudi. A few months later, a PetroSaudi subsidiary purchased a Malaysian holding company, UBG, in which Mr. Low and his investors held a substantial stake, according to public records. News media reports did not say so, but corporate records reviewed by The Times show that a director of the PetroSaudi subsidiary was a close friend of Mr. Low named Geh Choh Hun.

成立後不久，1MDB就投資10億美元，與沙特石油成立了一家合資企業。幾個月後，沙特石油的一家子公司收購了馬來西亞控股公司UBG。公開記錄顯示，劉特佐及他代表的投資者在這家公司中持有大量股份。雖然新聞報道中並未提及，但時報查閱的企業記錄顯示，沙特石油的這家子公司中，有一名董事是劉特佐的密友，名叫倪祖韓(Geh Choh Hun)。

PetroSaudi has told the Malaysian press that the deals were unrelated. And both men said Mr. Geh was not representing Mr. Low’s interest in the deal.

沙特石油告訴馬來西亞媒體，這些交易並不相關。兩人都表示，倪祖韓並沒有在交易中代表劉特佐的利益。

By 2011, 1MDB pulled out of the PetroSaudi joint venture. The proceeds, however, were not immediately returned to Malaysia. Instead, they ended up in a Cayman Islands company and managed by an investment firm that 1MDB only recently identified. The money was recently returned to 1MDB, the fund has said.

2011年，1MDB從它與沙特石油的合資企業中撤資。不過，款項沒有被立即回到馬來西亞，而是到了一家開曼羣島的公司手中，這家公司由一家投資公司管理。1MDB最近才指出該投資公司的名稱。該基金表示，這些錢最近返還給了1MDB。

The Caymans maneuver has stirred an outcry even within Mr. Najib’s own party. “I don’t understand why the government carries on with 1MDB,” Daim Zainuddin, a former finance minister, said in an interview. “To me, it’s quite frightening because you don’t know what they’re doing,” he said, adding, “Why must government money be parked?”

就連在納吉布所屬政黨的內部，開曼羣島的動作也引起了強烈抗議。“我不明白爲什麼政府還要與1MDB保持關係，”馬來西亞前財長達耶姆·扎因丁(Daim Zainuddin)在採訪中說。“在我看來，這相當可怕，因爲你不知道他們在做什麼，”他補充道，“爲什麼要把政府的錢放在那裏？”

There have been other criticisms as well — that the fund has taken on large amounts of debt and that some of its investments have benefited large donors to Mr. Najib’s party.

也有其他的批評聲音，如該基金揹負了大量債務，一些投資項目使納吉布所在政黨的主要資助者受益。

The prime minister’s office said that 1MDB was run by professional managers, and that many blue-chip companies do business with funds registered in the Caymans. The criticisms, it added, “need to be examined for political motivation.”

納吉布辦公室表示，1MDB由職業經理人經營，很多藍籌股公司都與在開曼羣島註冊的基金有商業往來。總理辦公室還表示，“需要審視”這些批評的“政治動機”。

A year ago, the accounting firm KPMG refused to sign off on 1MDB’s financials, according to Nur Jazlan Mohamed, chairman of Parliament’s audit committee. KPMG declined to comment for this article. The fund, which described the parting as amicable, found a new auditor: Deloitte.

馬來西亞國會審計委員會主席諾嘉茲蘭·穆罕默德(Nur Jazlan Mohamed)透露，一年前，會計師事務所畢馬威(KPMG)拒絕簽字認可1MBD的財務狀況。畢馬威拒絕就本文置評。該基金形容雙方友好地結束了合作關係，並找到一個新的審計事務所：德勤(Deloitte)。

Mr. Nur Jazlan, a member of Mr. Najib’s party, said the Deloitte blessing gave him comfort. “They wouldn’t sanction the accounts if there was a problem,” he said. Still, he acknowledged that “conditions are fertile” for fraud, given the scant oversight of 1MDB.

作爲納吉布所在政黨的成員，諾嘉茲蘭表示，德勤的支持給他帶來了安慰。他說，“如果有問題的話，他們不會認可這些賬目。”但他承認，鑑於對1MDB的監督不足，欺詐“的條件非常充足”。

“Yes, they make money, but should they make more money?” Mr. Nur Jazlan said. Yet as long as 1MDB shows a profit, he added, it is unlikely that there will be any serious inquiry into whether money went missing. “Money makes money,” he said. “You can basically hide a lot of things in there as well. Then, the party doing scrutiny of management is the board, which is appointed by who? And chaired by who? The prime minister.”

諾嘉茲蘭說，“是的，他們在賺錢，但他們賺的錢是不是應該再多些？”但是他又表示，只要1MDB還在盈利，就不太可能開展嚴格的調查，追究是否有資金流失。“錢可以用來賺錢，”他說。“你基本上還是可以將很多東西隱藏起來。對管理層進行監督的是董事會，董事會是由誰委任的？由誰領導呢？總理。”