PUBLISHED ONMarch 06, 2023 5:03 AMByDrima ChakrabortyChoose your friends wisely.
Kim Kardashian and Leonardo DiCaprio rediscovered the saying when they were caught up in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal due to their connections with Malaysian fugitive Jho Low, as recently-uncovered Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) documents revealed.
The 2019 documents, reported by Bloomberg Businessweek, showed that Kim gambled with Low twice, including a time where she won US$350,000 (S$471,000).
"At the end of the night, Kardashian's security guard advised Kardashian to give all her chips back to Low since it wasn't her money, but when Kardashian attempted to give the chips back Low told Kadashian the chips were her to keep," the FBI report about Kim's interview read.
Kim was given a trash bag full of 100-dollar bills estimated to be worth US$250,000 that night in Las Vegas, which she put in her carry-on luggage on her flight to Los Angeles.
She also asked a member of her entourage what to do with the money, to which the latter told Kim she would have to get a letter detailing it was a gift from Low, which she received from Low's assistant.
Kim also received the remaining US$100,000 the next time she gambled with Low.
"During that trip with Low, Kardashian heard that Low had put down a US$2,000,000 marker with the casino," the report further read.
Kim first met Low — real name Low Taek Jho — in 2009 when he paid her US$50,000 to appear at a Las Vegas nightclub.
The business tycoon also attended Kim's 2011 wedding with NBA athlete Kris Humphries, giving her a US$350,000 white Ferrari as a present, and US$100,000 to Kris which he spent on fireworks for the wedding.
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She also attended a yacht party in Italy organised by Low with then-boyfriend Kanye West, for which she received US$250,000 in appearance fees and Kanye US$1,250,000 for performing.
Low is an internationally-wanted man after being deemed the mastermind behind the 1MDB fraud, which aimed to syphon US$4.5 billion from 1MDB into his personal accounts, which he denies.
He alleges that he is being persecuted by the Malaysian government for his support of former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his own part in the scandal.
Leonardo DiCaprio was among the list of Hollywood A-listers interviewed in conjunction with Low.
It was reported that Leonardo first met Low in a nightclub in 2010, after which the businessman showered him with gifts and helped finance his 2013 movie The Wolf of Wall Street.
FBI investigators presented the 48-year-old actor with emails he sent to Low referring to him as "my friend" and the CEO of a company, but Leonardo could not remember discussing Low's business with him, and instead said that the phrases looked like "something he would write" and that he "might have cut-and-pasted it."
In the thousands of BlackBerry messages and emails uncovered between the two, the FBI discovered that Leonardo referred to Low as "my man" and Low called Leonardo "Ldogg" in return.
They also uncovered that the two men had plans to pledge US$1 billion to fund movies, open a Warner Bros theme park in Asia with attractions based on the actor's movies and start an eco-friendly resort in Belize.
The pair's mothers had even met.
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Leonardo told a grand jury subsequently: "I was working for him, and that business also translates into being social.
"And so we saw each other more, and there was more interaction."
On March 3, Razak and former 1MDB CEO Arul Kandasamy were acquitted of a separate charge of tampering with a 2016 government audit into the fund by a Malaysian court.
On the same day, US prosecutors recommended former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng be sentenced to 15 years in prison for embezzling 1MDB funds.
Jho Low's current whereabouts are unknown, though a podcast from August 2022 alleged that the fugitive visited Shanghai Disneyland on Christmas Eve 2019.
ALSO READ: Najib, 1MDB ex-CEO cleared of audit tampering charges
drimac@asiaone.com