What can Kim Kardashian - Leonardo DiCaprio have to do with a mansion in Ayia Napa?

Details of the actor's connections Leonardo di Caprio and the TV personality Kim Kardashian by Joe Lowe, a Malaysian stockbroker, wanted by international authorities for one of the biggest corruption scandals in the world, are coming to light.

Leonardo DiCaprio and the Oscar

On Thursday, Bloomberg revealed previously undisclosed details from FBI documents that say the actor was questioned in 2018 about his relationship with the man wanted for involvement in a more than $4,5 billion money-laundering scheme spun off from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, also known as 1MDB.

According to the report, DiCaprio met him Lowe at a nightclub in 2010 and then developed an intimate relationship.

The two had at one point discussed ideas for setting up a large $1 billion endowment fund, producing more motion pictures, and a theme park Warner Bros in Asia with games based on the actor's films. They had also discussed developing an eco-friendly resort in Belize.

According to the publication, in their public appearances it seemed that they had great intimacy, while it seems that they had also met their mothers.

Except that Lowe funded in 2013 the candidate for Oscar movie The Wolf of Wall Street, in which DiCaprio starred, the stockbroker had also given his friend several lavish gifts. Among them was the Oscar statuette won by Marlon Brandon, worth $600.000, and a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting worth $9 million, according to the report.

According to a 2018 New York Times report, DiCaprio had returned the gifts to authorities following investigations into the alleged embezzlement of billions by the wanted man.

At the time he stated that Lowe's wealth came from some business activity in Abu Dhabi, while noting that he was described as "the Mozart of the business world".

The Bloomberg report also revealed that the FBI had also spoken with her Kim Kardashian about her relationship with Lowe.

Kim Kardashian: Gambling, Ferrari and $250.000 in the TV personality's trash bag

Kim Kardashian is also being questioned by the FBI about her relationship with Joe Lowe.

As reported by the Daily Mail, Kardashian she admitted to partying with him Lowe in Las Vegas and received cash gifts from him. She first met him in 2009 when he paid her $50.000 to perform at a nightclub for his birthday. Reports state that the Malaysian has since started to…. showering the TV personality with gifts and cash, including $250.000 in hundred dollar bills in a garbage bag, when she played cards with him.

According to Kardashian, she only met Lowe six times, two of which were while gambling. However, they kept in touch via text messages, with the businessman promising to make her rich with diamond necklaces and expensive paintings.

Joe Lowe attended Kim Kardashian's wedding to Kris Humphries in 2011 and gave her $305.000 as a wedding gift, which he used to buy a white Ferrari. He later sold it and used the money to buy a Lamborghini, which was registered in Kanye West's name.

In July 2012, the Malaysian paid $1,25 million for West to appear on a yacht in Italy and also gave Kardashian $250.000 for his appearance. But, their relationship later soured and they stopped talking in the early 2010s.

According to the FBI report, Kardashian was always considered the source of his wealth Lowe it was the greatest mystery to him. The investigation into the mystery man and the 1MDB scandal has been ongoing for several years, with Joe Low accused of money laundering and other financial crimes in the US, Malaysia and other countries.

The 1MDB scandal is one of the biggest financial scandals in history, involving the embezzlement of billions of dollars from Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund. The scandal has implicated high-ranking officials in Malaysia, as well as several global banks and financial institutions.

The mansion in Ayia Napa worth 6 million euros and the Cypriot passport

Wanted Malaysian stockbroker Joe Low enlisted the help of a company specializing in obtaining foreign passports for his clients to buy the Republic of Cyprus' "golden passport", an investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Program (OCCRP) and the investigative journalism group Sarawak Report from Malaysia. However, the London-based company named in the investigation denies that it accepted Mr. Lowe as its client.

The findings of the investigation were published earlier this week and are highlighted by the British newspaper Guardian.

In its key points, the investigation states that a London company collaborated with Joe Lowe despite being recognized as a politically exposed person.

The company in question used a Cypriot accounting firm as an intermediary for the purchase of a plot of land and the construction of a luxury residence worth approximately 6 million euros from the Malaysian stockbroker in Αγία Νάπα, with the aim of obtaining the Cypriot and by extension the Community passport.

The transaction was made with the involvement of virtual companies and a company that offers concealment services to the real owners.

It is also reported that three associates of Joe Lowe also applied for Cypriot citizenship around the same time and declared Cypriot addresses close to that of the stockbroker as residences. The OCCRP press team cites a statement by the former Minister of the Interior, Nikos Nouris, that none of them obtained a Cypriot passport.

The London company named in the investigation denies that it accepted Mr. Lowe as its client, claiming that it referred him to another company.

The journalists, however, cite a contract between the two dated 7 May 2015 and invoices from the London company to companies in Cyprus which are related to the movements of the wanted stockbroker regarding the passport that year.

In November 2016, five months after the allegations against him were made by the US Department of Justice, Joe Lowe appeared again to seek the company's assistance in purchasing a larger property in Ayia Napa, canceling the original purchase contract and signing new.

Joe Lowe is wanted for allegedly embezzling more than $ 4,5 billion from Malaysia's 1MDB state investment fund in 2015.

Did he finally lose the mansion in Ayia Napa?

However, according to the newspaper Fieleleftheros, in a report on July 29, 2020, MOKAS in consultation with the Attorney General secured a seizure order for the luxurious mansion in Ayia Napa.

The decree that binds the villa worth six million euros from possible alienation, was issued by the District Court of Nicosia at the request of the Unit for Combating Cover-up Crimes (MOKAS).

The mansion had previously been blocked by the Lands Department so that in case someone tried to sell or transfer the specific property, MOKAS would be informed. After consultation and contacts with the Malaysian authorities, it was possible to issue a court order for the consolidation of the only property owned by Joe Lowe in Cyprus, which was purchased for the not inconsiderable sum of six million euros.

The goal, as reported by "Phileleleftheros", is for the specific property to be confiscated in the future and the amount collected to go to the Malaysian authorities, as long as Cyprus receives an amount.

To obtain a Cypriot passport, according to the newspaper, Low commissioned the internationally renowned company Henley & Partners, which specializes in matters of international naturalization and residence acquisition, which started contacts in Cyprus at the end of spring 2015.

Joe Low had come to Cyprus on September 18, 2015 and through an express procedure in two days he exceptionally got his passport from the Council of Ministers. Also on September 23, 2015, acting on behalf of client Joe Taek Lowe, Henley & Partners purchased the unfinished mansion in the Limnara area of ​​Ayia Napa. According to our information, the mansion was completed in early 2020 and handed over to the beneficiary.

It is noted that in the case of the Malaysian businessman who was given a Cypriot passport, a scandal broke out last year because he is wanted by the authorities of his country for financial fraud worth millions. As it was established, when he was given a Cypriot passport he was not wanted, however in his country but also in the USA and elsewhere there was a stir around his name.

With information from Guardian / KYPE / Daily Mail / Philelefthero