PUTRAJAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The Malaysian authorities have evidence that fugitive financier Low Taek Jho kept a lot of the money siphoned off from state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) for himself, says Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Tun Dr Mahathir said on Monday (May 6) that because Low, popularly known as Jho Low, had not been tracked down so far, the government had not recovered most of the funds from the 1MDB scandal.

"There is still a lot of money missing. The funds we have recovered are less than RM2 billion (S$657 million)," he said.

"He (Jho Low) stole and lost it all. (With) 1MDB alone, he had taken RM42 billion. Who got the money? Who is keeping the money? Where is the money?" he asked.

"There is some evidence Jho Low took a lot of money for himself. We have problems trying to detect where he is, but we are still after him," said Dr Mahathir on the efforts of the government to recover the funds allegedly stolen from 1MDB.

Dr Mahathir was speaking to the media at a group interview held in conjunction with the first anniversary of the Pakatan Harapan government on May 9.

Low has been charged in Malaysia and the United States for his central role in the alleged theft of US$4.5 billion (S$6.13 billion) from 1MDB.

He has consistently denied any wrongdoing through spokesmen.