A Malaysian millionaire businessman had purportedly flown in Hollywood celebrity Paris Hilton
to South Africa before her high-profile arrest for suspected drug abuse
<small>Jul 6th, 2010
</small>
PETALING JAYA: A Malaysian millionaire businessman had purportedly flown in Hollywood celebrity Paris Hilton to South Africa before her high-profile arrest for suspected drug abuse in Port Elizabeth. Hilton, 29, and her friend, former Playmate Jennifer Rovero, 31, were detained after watching the Brazil-Holland World Cup quarter-final match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Friday.
Police said they found local marijuana – known as “dagga” – in Hilton’s designer handbag. However, the charges against her were dropped by a special World Cup court when Rovero admitted that she was the one who had the drugs. The duo were travelling in a bus with US actor Leonardo DiCaprio when police boarded it with sniffer dogs.
The international press highlighted the story, reporting that Paris and DiCaprio were flown in from London by private jet to Johannesburg by a “mysterious Malaysian millionaire” to watch the World Cup. The South African media had earlier reported that Hilton, along with the businessman and his entourage of 20, were whisked into a private dining room at an upmarket restaurant in Rosebank with bodyguards.
There was no other mention as to the businessman’s involvement with the Hollywood stars in South Africa. Rovero, an Amercian working as a freelance photographer at the World Cup, said in mitigation that possession of cannabis was not an offence where she came from. An official from South Africa’s Home Affairs Department told the court that he was applying for Rovero’s immediate deportation.
