1MDB suspect and Jho Low associate dies weeks after questioning

Kee’s death comes after anti-graft body said it had confirmed the whereabouts of Malaysian financier Jho Taek Low.

A suspect in the 1MDB scandal has died weeks after being deported to Malaysia to be questioned about his role in the $4.5 billion fraud.

Kee Kok Thiam died in hospital on Monday after suffering a “sudden massive stroke” and was cremated Wednesday morning, Kee’s family said in a statement.

“We urge all parties not to harbor any speculation about this unfortunate event and to allow the family space to grieve [sic] upon his death,” the statement said.

The news of the 56-year-old businessman’s death comes hours after Al Jazeera reported that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had confirmed the whereabouts of fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Taek Low — the alleged mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal — in Macau on the basis of his interrogation of Kee.

The MACC said Kee, who was deported from Macau earlier this month, revealed he had met Low and other 1MDB refugees on Chinese soil and that Low had instructed him “not to return to Malaysia as a witness in the 1MDB case” .

Low disappeared in 2016 as authorities from Singapore to Australia and the United States approached the theft of billions of dollars from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.

A source at the MACC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al Jazeera that Kee was not under the protection of authorities as he was still considered a suspect. The source said there had been no negotiations about information he would like to release to gain protection.

Kee was released without charge after being questioned by MACC officers earlier this month.