There's a man, he's known as the Asian Great Gatsby,
Jesus, he blew $1.75 million in Vegas.
So I think he's all done, jake a little bit there,
in a single 90 minute turn it back on track.
But there's some more to this story that's a bit insane.
First we're gonna talk about how he accumulated all this money because It
wasn't on the up and up at all.
So first this guy's name is Jho Low and he was involved in what is known as
the Malaysia Development Berhad or 1MDB scandal.
And it has billions of dollars were siphoned from this government into this
investment company.
More details here from the Washington post.
Much of the money that was raised was allegedly embezzled.
The US Justice Department says that some $2.7 billion of the $6.5
billion of Goldman Sachs helped raise for 1MDB was stolen by people connected to
ex-Malaysia Prime Minister Najib and diverted for other bribes, a luxury yacht,
fine art and even funding for Martin Scorsese movie, The Wolf of Wall Street.
[CROSSTALK] What do you know?
There's more, when it comes to people from the Wolf of Wall Street here.
Fugitive financier Jho Low the alleged mastermind of the 1MDB scandal, stole
$1.42 billion from three bond transactions that Goldman Sachs group arranged for
the Malaysian wealth fund, an FBI agent who traced the funds testified this.
Now Mr Low and some of these other Malaysian businessman,
they diverted money from this and to all these other things, making it look like
there was legitimate businesses of course, the corruption, the fraud that is there.
And now these details are coming out because one of these guys also
is on trial and he's now spilling the beans that's Roger Ng.
So banker Roger NG stands accused of conspiring with his former Goldman Sachs
boss, Timothy Leissner and Low to divert billions of dollars from three 1MDB
bond deals guaranteed by Goldman.
Leissner former Goldman Sachs Goldman Southeast Asia chief has pleaded
guilty to money laundering and charges that has turned witness in the case.
He testified that he and Ng bribed officials to grease the transactions and
that he knew Low was involved in them.
So now onto how he lost all that money and his ridiculous lifestyle and
going to Vegas, why not?
If you're gonna steal money like this, why not spend it.
So Low he gambled nearly $87 million at The Venetian and
lost around $26 million of that.
The Venetian executive Kirk Godby told the court, and
he added that he had been a quote premium guest at the hotel I think so.
He was extremely extravagant as what Godby said,
he had requests that were parallel to none.
He made requests like he wanted disco balls, dance floors and DJs and again,
he was labeled as the Asian Great Gatsby, he's currently
an international fugitive and he's believed to be hiding out in China.
He's 40 years old and he's known for
throwing lavish parties with these stolen funds.
Again, now here's some of those names.
Since we're going back to Wolf of Wall Street according to court testimony last
month, he paid celebrities to attend them and that included Megan Fox,
Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, and Leonardo Dicaprio.
Model Emily Ratajkowski has previously claimed that low paid her $25,000
to attend the Super Bowl with him, while Miranda Kerr said to the head hand over
to authorities some $8 million in jewelry because he had gifted her that.
Low also allegedly used 1MDB funds to buy luxurious properties in Beverly Hills,
New York and London and
he's had to give up some of those assets in recent days now.
So I mean, I guess he had some fun, no need to hoard all that money and
then losing it once they bust you.
>> Yeah, I know, I can relate.
I mean he lost 1.75 million in one sitting.
I've lost $1.75 and that hurt.
No,, seriously guys these folks, there's a couple of angles to this story.
First of all, do the folks at Goldman Sachs need regulation?
Now republicans say no, no, no, trust the bankers,
trust the corporations don't regulate them.
Hashtag freedom, okay?
Yeah, the freedom to steal $1.42 billion.
Okay, so I'm glad to be chasing him down, but he already got the stuff and
he's already in the wind.
He's gone, right?
The second part of the story about the gambling and
there's a little bit of irony there.
I get it.
You wanna spend the money, the lavish parties, the disco balls sounds fun.
If you're gonna steal it, I agree with you are, you might as well spend it.
[LAUGH] Okay, you're gonna hold it for what?
Okay, God knows when they're gonna get you go and spend it.
But there's a great irony of like Goldman Sachs,
which is generally Republican, helps them take the money.
Well then they'll say, no, no, no, we didn't know, etcetera.
I'm sure some apparently did know.
And then he goes and gives 26 million back at the Venetian owned
by Sheldon Adelson who is a Republican donor.
So that money is flowing through Republican circles and
they're having a grand old time with it.
But there is an irony in, let me go steal your money so I could lose it to that guy.
[LAUGH] >> [LAUGH] Well, I guess I learned
the hard way that things that happen in Vegas don't always stay in Vegas.
Don't believe the hype.
[LAUGH] >> [LAUGH]
>> As a resident of Las Vegas and
seeing the working class at Las Vegas is actually built on the backs of,
this story is especially disgusting to me and that,
this is viewed as the billionaires play land and rarely do we see stories
that actually address what's happening with the regular working folk.
I mean, las Vegas is usually one of the hardest hit when,
when we have a crisis across the nation because of the type of
industry that drives not only Las Vegas but our state.
We have some of the worst health care outcomes,
some of the worst schooling outcomes.
We are literally running out of water and
we are also at the top of the line for climate change.
And yet we rarely hear about any of those issues.
And also from even the leadership in Las Vegas,
I mean they're all like the casinos are back.
Las Vegas is back, and it's like back for who.
And so rarely it's again, another strong indicator
of where the interest is as a whole in this nation.
And it's definitely not on the working people.
>> When it comes to those people.
I'm sorry, when it comes to those people that people don't talk about,
cua I've been to Vegas many times, I went to college out here.
So the trip to Vegas is a four hour friday night and it was easy, and
we'd stay at random little hotels.
But, so when it comes to those folks that do get the short end of the stick and
they're just the regular people there.
There are all funnels right back within the Vegas circle,
back within the casinos and those bigwigs.
Or is there like some kind of phantom where they say we're gonna do this for
the people of the city, but they actually don't, where does it all,
how does it kinda work with that?
It's just whoever pays off like any other politician this
[CROSSTALK] >> Trip actually isn't part of Las Vegas
proper, [LAUGH] it actually is incorporated its own.
So we can go down that path with no,
right now they are not flipped up to up to full staffing yet,
and they're actually making the people that have come back do more work.
And then there's a whole subset that most people don't think about when they
think about Las Vegas and the casinos, and
it's the small business owner, the entrepreneurs.
And there is hundreds and thousands of these
small businesses that were literally wiped out during the pandemic.
As the big corporations gobbled up all the assistance that was given out and
meant to help businesses, through the COVID these people were left out,
they were promised money from SBA and still have not received it.
And you only have to go outside of the strip just a little bit and then you'll
see are huge homeless population and it's only going to increase.
And on top of that we have investors coming in and
gobbling up all of the housing so that they don't have affordable housing,
we have some of the least available in the nation.
And this is all under the beautiful lights of the Las Vegas strip.
>> So coincidentally Amy is running for Congress in Vegas, right?
This story happened to me in the news today, but
it is an interesting, look into the very high end, right?
And and remember guys,
look there's mythology in America that the rich deserved it, that it's a meritocracy.
So if they're rich they must have merited it.
And then if you're not rich you must not have merited it.
The dude just stole the money.
Okay, flat out stole it.
He didn't merit anything, okay?
And then they basically by losing it at the venetian, he then hands it over
to the Adelson is then you could argue about whether they earned it or not,
but do they share it?
No, no.
And what do they use their money on?
They use it on buying off Republican politicians.
The Sheldon Adelson gave over $100 million Donald Trump.
And then what did Donald Trump do, he crushed the unions for them.
He made some corruption charges in Macau disappear for
him, and he moved our embassy in Israel for Sheldon Adelson.
Sheldon Adelson, Trump won the Adelson primary in 2016 where they went and
all kissed his ring at the Venetian.
And the way that Trump won was, he said, what do you need?
I'm the most corrupt guy here.
I'll give you whatever you want.
And and you know what Trump did as a little cherry on top?
He awarded Sheldon Adelson's wife a presidential Medal of Freedom.
>> [LAUGH] >> That's the highest honor we have.
What did she do?
Nothing other than giving money?
It's amazing.
So did they share it with the people of Vegas?
The workers in Vegas?
Of course not.
The number one thing that Adelson wants out of all of that wish list is
make sure that my employees get paid the lowest wages possible.
Okay, and that's how the system works.
That's why you need progressive candidates like Amy, who don't take that money,
if you take the cook money, well you're going to do.
And in this case the Adelson money, you're gonna do their bidding.
If you're actually representing real people,
you don't take corporate pac money.
You actually could help all of Vegas, which by the way,
doesn't even hurt the Adelson is you don't we, you want tourism in Vegas?
You want the casinos to do?
Well, you just want a tiny bit of fairness on how that's shared.
Does that make sense Amy?
>> Definitely.
And there's such a disparity between what the executives are making
versus the workers and
they are constantly having to go to fight with the unions that are in town.
Just to be able to keep their health care to put money back into the school system.
I mean the list goes on and on and
unfortunately we have a bunch of leaders who are very complacent.
And so we need to have progressives in there who are unbought and unbossed and
ready to go in and fight.
I always say they have to have the kahunas to do it, because these are big powers.
And I know in my race there's an Adelson protege that's entering in.
So this ought to be very interesting.
[LAUGH] >> I mean like,
see the this country is crazy.
I mean we're complaining about Russian oligarchs.
We have our bankers helping those same Russian oligarchs to rip people off and
we can't even look into the private equity and
hedge funds to see if they have Russian assets,
even though the American government is putting up a $5 million bounty.
Jho Low who just heard about it is trying to get it so you can go back and
gamble it away.
Anyway, so I mean, you always talk about crazy rich Asians,
this guy is literally it, right?
But I respect the disco ball, don't get me wrong, but
meanwhile our American bankers are helping to protect the Russian oligarchs and
they were helping to protect this robbery, right?
And do we ever hold them accountable, no, why?
Because look at what Amy just said,
there's someone who is an Adelson candidate.
They literally by candidates in America.
You wanna talk about oligarchs.
How about our oligarchs who say, okay, this is my candidate.
He will run, and he will run with endless money, and he'll wipe away the field.
And by the way, the other reason why establishment Democrats drive me crazy,
because they never even fight against those guys.
They never laid a glove on him.
Right, Get out of the way, let progressives run tough campaigns where
we actually point out what's wrong with the Republicans?
>> Did those celebrities have to get back to 25K and for
a date to the Super Bowl is Emily Ratajkowski, right?
>> Yeah, that was the other thing that Surprised me.
25,000, that was it like 25,000 is a lot of money for us, right?
But for Emily Ratajkowski, I don't know that I'd go to a Super Bowl.
I would love to go to a Super Bowl.
I'd love to get 25,000.
But if some creeper was like, right, hey, no, I'm Jho Low from the blood,
why don't you come to the game with me and be like, no.
[LAUGH] >> Well for some of you, younger viewers,
I found the most ironic part.
And this tells you, I actually love to be on Tiktok, [LAUGH] but there was just
a thing out that was from Kim Kardashian, that she was giving advice to women,
that they just need to work harder, that nobody seems to wanna work anymore.
And I wonder if this is her definition [LAUGH] of working.
I mean, it shows you that disconnect not only from people of extreme wealth, but
we also unfortunately have this same kind disconnect from our leadership.
There is this disconnect, we're in the middle of the COVID pandemic.
And we're looking at a huge refrigerator full of the most expensive ice cream that
we could from our Democratic Party leader.
I mean, so it's like, it's across all places,
whether it's the entertainment industry, whether it's the financial and
business industry or it's from our own leadership.
I always tell people it's not a party issue, the things that we're fighting,
it's really about a class, it's about to have and the have nots.
And it is universal, no matter what industry or
whether we're looking at politics, business or entertainment.
I mean you just see it across across the globe.