£200m yacht seized in huge fraud probe into ‘friend of stars’
Medics held up by selfish parking
FRAUD probe police yesterday seized a £200million luxury yacht owned by a Britisheducated tycoon renowned for his friendship with some of Hollywood’s biggest names.
Officers on launches swooped on the 300ft Equanimity as it lay moored in Benoa Bay on the Indonesian island of Bali.
The seizure is the latest move in an international inquiry involving Britain and the US into flamboyant Malaysian financier Jho Low, 35.
Public school-educated Mr Low is being investigated over allegations that £3.5billion was siphoned from a Malaysian state development fund set up in 2009.
Australian-born supermodel Miranda Kerr, 34, became caught up in the inquiry last year when she handed over to US authorities £6million worth of jewellery and diamonds Mr Low had given her.
The collection included a £930,000 heart-shaped diamond which the financier had presented her with on Valentine’s Day in 2014 while she was aboard the Equanimity in the Bahamas.
Leonardo DiCaprio has handed over an Oscar statuette won by Godfather star Marlon Brando, a gift from Mr Low to mark the success of hit film The Wolf Of Wall Street.
According to US court documents, around £72million allegedly embezzled from the Malaysian state fund was used to finance the movie, in which DiCaprio, 43, starred.
The actor also handed over £2.3million worth of art given to him by the playboy including a Picasso. There is no suggestion Ms Kerr or Mr DiCaprio did anything illegal.
Celebrities seen partying with Mr Low, nicknamed The Whale, include heiress Paris Hilton, 37, and actress Lindsay Lohan, 31.
He has denied the allegations and described them as a “deeply flawed case”.
The seized yacht Equanimity, with a 34-strong crew, boasts a marble and gold leaf interior, spa and sauna, a 66ft deck swimming pool, a cinema and a helipad.
As part of the investigation, a penthouse flat and offices worth £77million in London’s Mayfair were also seized last year.
Born Low Taek Jho in Malaysia in 1982, Mr Low was sent to top public school Harrow, where Winston Churchill was once a pupil.
His Cantonese grandfather first established the family fortune. Tycoon Jho Low and model Miranda Kerr PARAMEDICS were delayed getting a patient to hospital – after a selfish motorist parked right behind their ambulance on double yellow lines.
The 999 crew had left their back doors open, the ramp down and blue lights flashing as they attended an elderly man struggling to breathe.
But despite a huge “Keep Clear” sign on their vehicle, a red Nissan was left so close they could not get the stretcher and patient inside.
Finally the Nissan driver, who claimed to have a disabled relative, was found and moved it.
West Midlands Ambulance Service said the incident in Small Heath, Birmingham, was “hugely disappointing”. It follows a string of parking rows in which medics suffered abuse.