If you think it’s just Apple’s stolen intellectual property that Samsung is in the habit of using, you might want to think again. Kun Hee Lee, Samsung’s billionaire CEO, drives himself around in one of the world’s rarest Ferraris, the 330 LMB… a $15 million automobile that is, in all likelihood, stolen goods.
In an excellent report by Jalopnik, the sordid history of the stolen Ferrari is given in detail. Here’s the overview.
Samsung chairman Kun Hee Lee originally purchased the 330 LMB — one of only four in existence — back in the 1990s as an investment. He kept it in the United States to avoid tariffs on the vehicle for many years, until finally shipping it off to Korea according to speculation.
The only problem is that the 330 LMB appears to be a stolen vehicle. Its original owner was one Ivars Blumeau, who purchased it in 1974 from a dealer named Donald Fong, “a flamboyant and mythical man in Ferrari circles.”
Blumeau decided to leave the Ferrari in Fong’s shop for safe-keeping, but in 1977, it was stolen under suspicious circumstances from Fong’s shop. Fong may have been involved with the theft, as he is described by Blumeau as “car rich and cash poor.”
From there, the car transferred hands through a series of owners around the world, eventually ending up in the hands of the Samsung boss himself… a man who, lest we forget, has a bit of a shady history himself: he was once sentenced to prison for bribery, although he was later pardoned.
Blumeau is looking for the Ferrari’s return, and has the FBI and Interpol on the case, as well as a current title for the car and a court order for the vehicle’s return issued by Florida. It’s important to note that it’ is highly improbable that Kun Hee Lee was involved with the theft of the car, and he may not even know that his Ferrari is stolen.
Whatever the case, if it takes Apple’s team of lawyers and a series of court battles around the world to get Samsung to do the right thing and pony up for the tech it has stolen, though, imagine what Blumeau will have to do to get his Ferrari back.
Source: Jalopnik
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