Low, better known as Jho Low, is a key figure in the scandal at 1MDB, which US and Malaysian investigators say was used to siphon out billions of ringgit.

“I will try my best to expedite (the process) … hopefully we can get him back by the year-end,” Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Abdul Hamid Bador told a forum organised by Malay daily Sinar Harian here.

“I know where he is, but I can’t tell you where. It is the same with his co-conspirators. There are four or five of them. We know where they are. We are discussing how to bring them back,” he added.

“Our investigations found that he is free to move around and able to run his businesses without any restrictions,” Hamid said.

During the forum, he said this is not a matter of politics but a crime, calling the 1MDB affair the biggest commercial crime in the world.

“This doesn’t have any political benefits for us or the country he’s hiding in. We never understood why the other side will not cooperate with us.”

He added that Interpol is sticking to its standards of operations and it is under Interpol’s power to send out a red notice to whichever country that is protecting Low.

Hamid said police cannot reveal any more details because the matter is still under discussion.

He added that there is an extradition agreement in place with the country concerned.

“If my avenues run out and we still fail to bring Low back, I will organise a press conference to detail everything I did, what I have failed at, who did not cooperate, and so on. I will tell everything.”