Imelda Marcos

Filipino political wife who was the champion of conspicuous consumers at a time when her people were starving and destitute. She was the owner of 2,030 pairs of shoes, designer garments, 500 black brassieres and many other extravagant items. A former beauty queen, she married Ferdinand Marcos who later became dictator of the Philippines. When he was deposed, they went into exile in Honolulu, HI. They suffering the indignity of being brought down to living in a $2 million house, modestly furnished and with a minimum staff, managing to get by on a monthly overhead of $80,000. From the power position of being the law, they were now facing a long list of criminal investigations. Imelda was arraigned in New York on racketeering charges, of plundering $103 million in Philippine government funds, then soaking U.S. banks for $165 million more in a fraudulent financing scheme and secretly purchasing four Manhattan buildings with the loot. The indictment further alleged that, with the aid of Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, they continued their financial finagling after accepting asylum in the U.S. If convicted, the Marcoses could face 20 years in prison. Leaving court, Imelda suffered her humiliation in a Waldorf suite at $1,800 a night. Her pal, Doris Duke, had loaned her a private jet to fly back and forth from Hawaii and agreed to put up the $5.3 million in bail. As Imelda faced criminal charges, Ferdinand was too ill to travel. He died in Hawaii on 9/28/1989. Link to Wikipedia biography