Leonardo DiCaprio
Surrenders Marlon Brando’s Oscar to Justice Department
by Daniel Nussbaum 15 Jun 2017
Leonardo DiCaprio has handed over to the federal government an
Oscar originally won by Marlon Brando that he was gifted by Red Granite Pictures for
his work on The Wolf of Wall Street, as the Department
of Justice closes in on the
production company’s alleged involvement in a massive Malaysian embezzlement
scheme.
According
to Deadline, the DOJ filed an asset seizure request Thursday in
a California court against Red Granite, the film production company that has been
accused of using millions of dollars stolen from a fund intended to benefit the
people of Malaysia to
pay for its productions.
In the filing,
the government reportedly argued it should be entitled to seize the Red Granite
films Dumb and Dumber To and Daddy’s Home as well as precious
artwork purchased by the production company with what DOJ claims is stolen
money. The filing reportedly includes a request to seize real estate, valuable
artwork by Van Gogh and Picasso and an original poster for the 1927 Fritz Lang
film Metropolis, said to be worth $1.3 million, that reportedly hangs on
the wall at Red Granite’s office.
An August exposé
in the Hollywood Reporter detailed the link between DiCaprio, his
eponymous environmental foundation and 1MDB, the Malaysian sovereign wealth
fund at the center of the scandal. The DOJ alleges that Malaysian
businessman and 1MDB advisor Jho Low funneled millions of dollars stolen
from the fund into the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, including for the purchase
of artwork that was later auctioned off at the actor’s annual environmental
charity gala in St. Tropez, France.
The DOJ also alleges that hundreds of millions of dollars
(of the more than $3 billion reported to have been misappropriated from the
fund, in what could be the world’ largest-ever embezzlement scheme) went to Red Granite
Pictures to fund its productions,
including The Wolf of Wall Street, the 2013 financial crime dramedy for
which DiCaprio won a Golden Globe in the starring role.
Red Granite — co-founded by the prime minister of
Malaysia’s step-son, Riza Aziz, himself a central figure in the DOJ
investigation — was reported to have given DiCaprio the Oscar won by Marlon
Brando for his role in the 1954 classic On the Waterfront as a gift for
his work on Wolf of Wall Street.
In a statement to Deadline Thursday, representatives for
DiCaprio — who finally won his own acting Oscar for The Revenant in 2015
— said the actor reached out to the DOJ last summer to help cooperate with
the investigation and to see if he needed to return any potentially ill-gotten
gifts or donations. The actor was reported to have earned around $25 million
for his role as unscrupulous 90s Wall Street investor Jordan Belfort in the
Martin Scorsese-directed film.
“Prior to the government’s filing of the civil pleading
today, Mr. DiCaprio initiated return of these items, which were received and
accepted by him for the purpose of being included in an annual charity auction
to benefit his eponymous foundation,” the actor’s reps said. “He has also
returned an Oscar originally won by Marlon Brando, which was given to Mr.
DiCaprio as a set gift by Red Granite to thank him for his work on The Wolf Of
Wall Street.”
“Mr. DiCaprio is grateful for the support of the
government in this effort, and continues to hope that justice is done in this
matter,” the statement added.
In its own statement, Red Granite said it was “fully
cooperating” with the federal investigation while it continues to work on
developing upcoming films.
Last year, a number of environmental charities called
on DiCaprio to return any money that may have come from the
Malaysian development fund.
“In keeping the ill-gotten money, the Leonardo DiCaprio
Foundation is acting in complete contradiction to its mission statement, which
is to be ‘dedicated to the long-term health and wellbeing of all Earth’s
inhabitants… while restoring balance to threatened ecosystems and
communities,” Peter Kallang of the environmental group Save Rivers said in
a statement in September.
“The money should thus be returned to the people of
Malaysia to stop the massive destruction to the environment and ecosystem from
land developments and pollution,” he added.
In October, rainforest preservation charity The Bruno
Manser Funds called
on the actor to resign his post as a U.N. Messenger of Peace for climate change as
a result of the scandal.
Red Granite Pictures
Red Granite
Pictures is the production company for The
Wolf of Wall Street (2013).
Note: Leonardo DiCaprio
is an actor in The Wolf of Wall Street
(2013), a trustee at the Natural
Resources Defense Council, and a messenger of peace for the United Nations (U.N.).
Natural
Resources Defense Council is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a board member for the International Crisis Group, and was the
chairman for the Foundation to Promote
Open Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Anwar Ibrahim was
a board member for the International
Crisis Group, and a deputy prime minister for Malaysia.
Carla A. Hills was a board member for the International Crisis Group, and an assistant
attorney general for the U.S. Department
of Justice (DOJ).
George J. Mitchell
was a chair emeritus for the International
Crisis Group, and an attorney for the U.S.
Department of Justice (DOJ).
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