'Wolf of Wall Street' Producers Linked With Scandal of 1Mdb

The 1MDB (Malaysian Development Bhd) trial has taken a new turn that has been directly linked to the producers of Oscar-nominated film, Wolf of Wall Street. The prosecutors in the trial have apparently produced a document that shows a $9 million advance to the producers of the Oscar-nominated The Wolf of Wall Street from a company owned by fugitive businessman Jho Low.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The High Court in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur got a document that showed that the transaction, made in September 2012, involved the “Red Granite Productions, Inc” account at City National Bank Los Angeles and was paid as “advances for Wolf of Wall Street Movie for ACHL,” according to multiple local media reports. The money apparently came from Low’s Good Star Ltd.

Red Granite Productions Inc. was the Los Angeles-based film-making outfit responsible for the Martin Scorsese-directed The Wolf of Wall Street, along with Scott Cooper's Out of the Furnace and Alexandre Aja's Horns.

It was founded by Riza Aziz, stepson of disgraced former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak whose case is at the heart of the 1MDB scandal.

Aziz founded Red Granite in 2010 alongside Joey McFarland. Aziz faces five charges of laundering around $250 million out of the 1MDB fund. He faces up to 25 years in prison if found guilty of the charges and is currently out on bail.

Now into its fifth week, the current 1MDB trial is focused on Razak, who faces 42 charges linked to theft of around $4.5 billion from the sovereign wealth fund.

Assets seized included Aziz's mansion in Beverly Hills and Park Laurel condominium in New York; Low's Hollywood Hills mansion and Time Warner Center apartment in Manhattan; plus all future profits from The Wolf of Wall Street.

The film made $392 million on release in 2013 and it picked up five Oscar nominations, including one for best actor for its lead Leonardo DiCaprio.

The actor found himself embroiled in the scandal when it was revealed Low had lavished a trove of gifts on him, including a Pablo Picasso painting bought for $3.28 million, a Basquiat collage ($9,191,040), and the best actor Oscar won by Marlon Brando for his performance in On the Waterfront. DiCaprio voluntarily surrendered the items listed to the government.