$10.5M Of Diamonds Gifted To Miranda Kerr Targeted In Huge Fraud Lawsuit

Jewels belonging to Miranda Kerr, worth a teeth-shattering $10.5 million, are now at the centre of one of the largest fraud scandals of recent memory. 

American prosecutors are now trying to seize those rocks in relation to the alleged involvement of her former partner Jho Low in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) case. 

Low, who reportedly dated Kerr back in 2014, gifted her jewellery including an 11.72 carat heart-shaped diamond, an 8.8 carat diamond pendant, and several other maddeningly exxy stones. 

The thing is, U.S. authorities claim they were all bought with funds illegally pilfered from Malaysia’s state-operated 1MDB development fund. That’s bad, bad news, ’cause 1MDB was ostensibly set up to facilitate investment projects in the nation, and not to ice a few wrists. 
Low’s ties to the alleged scandal are numerous: he’s mates with Riza Aziz, who is the stepson of current Prime Minister Najib Razak, and it’s alleged he also dipped into the 1MDB coffers to buy nearly $40 million of jewels for Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor.
That’s on top of his $329 million yacht, which U.S. authorities are also trying to get their hands on. All up, the Justice Department is now trying to track down a stonking $2.1 billion of ill-gotten proceeds allegedly related to the 1MDB fund. 
In a statement, Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco said “this money financed the lavish lifestyles of the alleged co-conspirators at the expense and detriment of the Malaysian people.

“We are unwavering in our commitment to ensure the United States is not a safe haven for corrupt individuals and kleptocrats to hide their ill-gotten wealth or money, and that recovered assets be returned to the victims from which they were taken.”
Don’t for a second think this scandal wasn’t already wild, either. Riza Aziz, Low’s aforementioned mate, is under intense scrutiny over the dealings of his movie production company Red Granite. That firm was behind The Wolf Of Wall Street, and even provided Leonardo DiCaprio himself with some swish loot.
DiCaprio has already returned a whole stack of it – including Marlon Brando’s 1955 Oscar, a Picasso painting, and a Jean-Michael Basquiat collage – to the U.S. government. He’s cooperating fully with investigations. 
As for Kerr’s jewels? Well, we’ll see. 
Source: Wall Street Journal / Department Of Justice.
Photo: Jon Kopaloff / Getty.

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