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Murky Malaysian money trail that funded The Wolf of Wall Street – report | Murky Malaysian money trail that funded The Wolf of Wall Street – report |
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This article is the subject of a legal complaint made on behalf of Red Granite Pictures, Inc. | This article is the subject of a legal complaint made on behalf of Red Granite Pictures, Inc. |
It has been alleged that more than $100m of the production budget for Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street came from a Malaysian state fund connected to a scandal that has damaged a senior Goldman Sachs banker and led investigators to examine the lifestyle of a notorious New York playboy. | |
According to the Wall Street Journal, much of the cash used to make the Leonardo DiCaprio-starring film originated with 1MDB, a Malaysian state fund meant to boost local economic development. | |
Investigators in two countries, the Journal reported, believe 1MDB money “moved into” Red Granite Pictures “by a circuitous route”. Red Granite is a Hollywood production company co-founded by Riza Aziz, stepson of the prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, who set up 1MDB seven years ago. | |
1MDB also appears to be behind the the lavish lifestyle of Low Taek Jho, known as Jho Low, a notorious New York party boy and friend of Aziz. | |
Jho Low, 34, made his reputation buying multi-million-dollar properties in New York and Los Angeles and bidding on fine art – he is widely believed to have bought Picasso’s Women of Algiers last May, for $179m – while enjoying the limelight alongside celebrities such as DiCaprio and Paris Hilton. | |
In 2013, the year The Wolf of Wall Street was released, at least $681m, money the Malaysian government said was a gift from the Saudi royal family, landed in the personal bank accounts of Prime Minister Razak. In January, the prime minister was cleared of corruption over the sum. | |
However, this triggered an FBI investigation into 1MDB. According to the New York Post, Goldman Sachs helped raise $6.5bn for the fund and now faces a congressional hearing into its Malaysian dealings, under a range of statutes. | |
The company’s south-east Asia chairman, Tim Leissner, took a leave of absence last month. According to the Post, five countries, including the US, UK and France, are said to be looking for evidence of money laundering. | The company’s south-east Asia chairman, Tim Leissner, took a leave of absence last month. According to the Post, five countries, including the US, UK and France, are said to be looking for evidence of money laundering. |
The FBI has issued subpoenas to several current and former employees of Red Granite. | The FBI has issued subpoenas to several current and former employees of Red Granite. |
“Red Granite is responding to all inquiries and cooperating fully,” a spokesman for the company told the Journal, adding that the company had “no reason to believe the source of its financing was irregular”. | |
1MDB later said in a statement: “1MDB has never invested in or transferred funds to Red Granite Pictures, whether directly or via intermediaries. Any statement to the contrary is false.” | |
The movie business is long accustomed to accepting funds from investors with little experience in film. Even by Hollywood standards, though, the young Malaysian investors lived large. | The movie business is long accustomed to accepting funds from investors with little experience in film. Even by Hollywood standards, though, the young Malaysian investors lived large. |
Three months after shooting on The Wolf of Wall Street began, the Journal reported, Red Granite gave a birthday gift to DiCaprio: the Oscar statuette given to Marlon Brando for best actor in On the Waterfront, which cost aroundabout $600,000. | |
On New Year’s Eve 2012, revellers celebrated the arrival of 2013 in Australia and then flew to Las Vegas on a rented jetliner in time to celebrate it again. The party was reported to have included the two Malaysians, Aziz and Low, DiCaprio and Wolf of Wall Street co-star Jonah Hill, and the actor and singer Jamie Foxx. | On New Year’s Eve 2012, revellers celebrated the arrival of 2013 in Australia and then flew to Las Vegas on a rented jetliner in time to celebrate it again. The party was reported to have included the two Malaysians, Aziz and Low, DiCaprio and Wolf of Wall Street co-star Jonah Hill, and the actor and singer Jamie Foxx. |
Six months after the movie’s release, DiCaprio, Aziz and Low attended the World Cup in Brazil and spent time on a Saudi-owned, 482ft yacht. | Six months after the movie’s release, DiCaprio, Aziz and Low attended the World Cup in Brazil and spent time on a Saudi-owned, 482ft yacht. |
The alleged scandal came to public notice last year, when the Sarawak Report, a UK-based site run by a former BBC journalist, published a series of what it said were internal emails between 1MDB and Saudi energy company PetroSaudi. | The alleged scandal came to public notice last year, when the Sarawak Report, a UK-based site run by a former BBC journalist, published a series of what it said were internal emails between 1MDB and Saudi energy company PetroSaudi. |
The emails, the Sarawak Report said, showed that $700m involved in a deal between 1MDB and PetroSaudi was sent to a bank account belonging to a company controlled by Low. | The emails, the Sarawak Report said, showed that $700m involved in a deal between 1MDB and PetroSaudi was sent to a bank account belonging to a company controlled by Low. |
Low’s current whereabouts remain unknown, though much of the art he is believed to have purchased has re-appeared at auction over the last several months. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing, his lawyers calling allegations that he benefitted from the fund “false, materially misleading and categorically denied”. |