The Wolf of Wall Street was released in 2013 to critical acclaim, but the project was marred in controversy after its production was alleged to have been involved in a multi-billion fraud scheme. This scheme would involve the Malaysian government, the U.S. Department of Justice, Hollywood production companies, and international fugitives. All of this would cumulate in multiple arrests as well as a massive lawsuit launched against the production company that financed The Wolf of Wall Street.
The Wolf of Wall Street, a film about penny-stock scammer Jordan Belfort's rise and fall, was primarily produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and director Martin Scorsese. DiCaprio and Warner Bros. purchased the rights to Jordan Belfort’s autobiography of the same name in 2007. However, production soon stalled. Years later the movie was finally greenlit and production was undertaken by the indie company Red Granite Pictures. Production went relatively smoothly, and the film premiered in 2013. Nonetheless, only two years later, Red Granite Pictures would fall under scrutiny after allegations emerged that the film was funded using money embezzled from a fund owned by the Malaysian government.
What The Wolf Of Wall Street Was Accused Of By The Malaysian Company
Ultimately the studio would become embroiled in what became known as the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, a major corruption and fraud scandal. This scandal was investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). The MACC alleged that numerous Malaysian public officials embezzled the 1MDB social wealth fund since its inception in 2009. One of these embezzlers was then-prime minister Najib Razak, whose stepson was Riza Aziz. Aziz happened to serve as a producer on Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street. Court filings later showed approximately 155 million dollars were stolen from the fund and given to Aziz to help fund the production of the film, along with several luxury items gifted to various cast and producers. These funds were also determined to be laundered through a third-party company run by Low Taek Jho, a Malaysian businessman who is currently wanted by Interpol for stealing over four billion dollars from the 1MDB fund. Jho was even given a "special thanks" during the film's end credits.
How The Wolf Of Wall Street Fraud Suit Was Resolved
Similar to how Jordan Belfort’s stock scheme came crashing down at the end of The Wolf of Wall Street, the 1MDB scandal also came to a similarly dramatic close. In 2016 Red Granite Pictures was named in civil court filings by the United States Department of Justice, suing the company for its participation in the scandal. In 2019, Riza Aziz was raided and arrested by Malaysian authorities. He was charged with money laundering and breach of trust. Ultimately Red Granite would end up settling the DOJ civil suit by paying nearly 60 million dollars. It was also stipulated that the settlement would only go forward if the payment were not inferred as "an ission of wrongdoing or liability on the part of Red Granite.” Both Leonardo DiCaprio and the Vice chairman of Red Granite, Joey McFarland, also surrendered several fraudulently obtained luxury goods as part of the settlement agreement.
The lawsuits continued to pile up, with Jordan Belfort suing Red Granite for $300 million. He has claimed that the lawsuit was due to Red Granite not being honest about the source of their funding for the film adaption of his autobiography. Mr. Belfort’s lawsuit against Red Granite is currently pending at the time of this writing. In 2020, Malaysian authorities eventually dropped the charges filed against Riza Aziz after Aziz returned several luxury items that were purchased using the stolen funds. The cost of settling the case as well as the public backlash faced following the scandal were enough to put Red Granite Pictures under. The company was dissolved in 2018, only five years after the release of The Wolf of Wall Street.
