SINGAPORE (Sept 14): Malaysian fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) allegedly gifted Kim Kardashian and her ex-husband Kris Humpries a US$325,000 Ferrari using money misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) accounts.
The Ferrari was presented to the ex-couple in 2011 as a wedding gift. Kardashian is currently married to American rapper Kanye West.
US authorities said that Kardashian might have to surrender the car as it was allegedly bought with money ‘stolen from the people of Malaysia’, according to an article published in online portal Page Six.
However, there has been no official statement from the US Department of Justice (DoJ) saying whether it would recover the Ferrari of other gifts Low has given to his friends.
It was also said that Kardashian and Humphries battled for the car’s custody during their divorce, a few months after their wedding.
Last month, Kardashian was seen driving the white sports car in Miami.
According to another portal, RadarOnline, Kardashian has allegedly kept sole ownership of the car, despite it being gifted to both her and Humphries.
It was also reported that the 'generous unnamed wedding guest was only described as “a Malaysian businessman” at the time’.
“But sources tell me their benefactor was Low — the subject of the new book Billion Dollar Whale (by Wall Street Journal writers Tom Wright and Bradley Hope) about the spectacular alleged theft of up to US$5 billion from the Malaysian government. Low is thought to be hiding out somewhere in China,” Johnson wrote.
“Low was known to take his guests to casinos and hand them chips, (the book)’s co-author Bradley Hope told me. At a Las Vegas casino, he once gave Paris Hilton $250,000 in chips,” he added.
Kardashian is just one of many celebrities that Low has given expensive gifts allegedly bought with 1MDB money.
In June last year, Victoria Secret model Miranda Kerr surrendered to the DoJ $11.2 million worth of jewellery gifts from Low.
See: Miranda Kerr surrenders US$8.1 mil of jewellery gift from Low to US Justice Department
The Wolf of Wall Street star Leonardi DiCaprio had also surrendered an Oscar won by Marlon Brando that was gifted by Low to the US authorities. He had also initiated the return of other items, such as a Picasso painting and Basquiat painting, that he accepted as gifts which originated from people connected to 1MDB.
See: DiCaprio returns Brando Oscar as part of 1MDB money-laundering probe
Arrest warrants have been issued by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Singapore authorities for Low, who is now believed to be hiding in China.
