- German police raided a luxury car storage facility in Munich and seized four ultra-rare Bugatti Veyrons.
- The seized cars are reportedly connected to the 1MDB corruption scandal in Malaysia.
- The special edition models include examples of the Rembrandt, Black Bess, Jean-Pierre Wimille, and Meo Constantini.
A Friday morning raid at Munich’s Motorworld shattered the usual tranquility reserved for million-dollar toys. More than just a venue for fancy car shows, this luxury event space doubles as a playground for the wealthy to stash their most prized four-wheeled trophies. Apparently, playtime got a little out of hand.
The “boys in blue” rolled in with a warrant, not for one, not for two, but for four legendary somethings. Spoiler alert: they weren’t your average grocery getters. We’re talking about a quartet of the ultra-exclusive “Les Legendes de Bugatti” hypercars, a limited-edition line that could set you back a cool $12 million when they were fresh off the assembly line.
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According to reports from Germany, a dozen officers and investigators from the white-collar crime division were part of the raid. That crime appears to be tied to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal out of Malaysia where billions of dollars were embezzled from a sovereign wealth fund. In 2020, the former prime minister Najib Razak was sentenced to 12 years in prison for taking $600 million from the fund.
Specifically, the four cars seized here represent the Rembrandt, Black Bess, Jean-Pierre Wimille, and Meo Constantini edition Veyrons, of which the brand made only three each. So in total, Bugatti built just 18 cars in this ‘Les Legendes de Bugatti’ series, which itself is based on the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse. When new, they were valued at around $3 million each. Today, it’s tough to put a value on any of them, let alone the entire collection.
German daily Bild, which first reported the story, says that the authorities aren’t spilling the beans about who actually owned these cars. When it went digging it received a very boilerplate response.
“The action you are interested in took place as part of a request for legal assistance from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, which is part of ongoing criminal proceedings,” said a police spokeswoman. “For this reason, unfortunately I cannot provide you with any further information,”
What will happen with the cars at this point is up for debate. In previous cases of seizure where this type of crime wasn’t involved Germany has allowed owners to ship a car out of the country. That, in all likelihood, won’t be the case here.
