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(Bloomberg) — Jho Low was an enormous man in Vegas. He sported gold lame fits, traveled with an entourage and misplaced tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}, a New York jury was instructed.
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In a single 90-minute stint enjoying baccarat, his sport of selection, the Malaysian financier misplaced $1.75 million, Kirk Godby, a advertising govt on the Venetian in Las Vegas, testified.
All instructed, Low wagered nearly $87 million on the Venetian and misplaced about $26 million, Godby estimated.
“He was extraordinarily extravagant,” Godby mentioned. “He had requests that have been parallel to none. He made requests like he needed disco balls, dance flooring and DJs.”
Godby was testifying within the bribery trial of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Roger Ng over the multibillion-dollar 1MDB rip-off. Ng is accused of conspiring with Low and Ng’s former boss Tim Leissner to assist the financier steal billions of {dollars} from three bond offers Goldman underwrote for the 1Malaysia Improvement Bhd. wealth fund. Low is now a fugitive.
Prosecutors might have known as Godby to refute Ng’s October 2009 claims to Goldman superiors that he had met Low solely as soon as earlier than, when he really helpful the financier as a non-public wealth consumer to the financial institution.
Low was often known as a “premium” visitor on the Venetian who spent greater than $50,000 there, Godby mentioned.
Godby, who mentioned he’d been a advertising govt on the Venetian for greater than 20 years, defined to jurors it’s his job to “get individuals within the on line casino, get them within the door.” Casinos monitor guests’ wagers by their loyalty playing cards, and supply complimentary companies partially on how a lot individuals wager and spend.
“Now we have the entire enchilada if you’ll,” Godby mentioned. “Rooms, meals, drinks, spas, and exhibits, money again.”
Ng gambled with Low in the course of the former banker’s sole go to to the Venetian in late November 2010, Godby instructed the jury. Ng misplaced $22,500 enjoying baccarat throughout his go to, which came about earlier than the primary 1MDB bond deal closed in Might 2012. Low performed on the identical desk as Ng on the morning of Nov. 29 at round 5 a.m. and positioned $4 million in bets, Godby testified.
The Venetian wasn’t the one Las Vegas on line casino Low frequented although.
To have a good time his twenty eighth birthday, Low had a bash at Caesars Palace, with Leonardo DiCaprio being flown in on a non-public jet and receiving $150,000 to attend the occasion and a dinner, the jury was instructed earlier within the trial.
The trial resumes Monday with prosecutors saying they anticipate to conclude their case as early as March 23. U.S. District Choose Margo Brodie instructed jurors they might get the case as early as March. 29.
The case is U.S. v. Low Taek Jho, 18-cr-538, U.S. District Courtroom, Jap District of New York (Brooklyn).
(Updates with extra testimony starting in seventh paragraph.)
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