Leonardo DiCaprio testifies in secret US probe into Malaysian corruption

Leonardo DiCaprio playing Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street
Leonardo DiCaprio playing Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street Credit: Mary Cybulski

Leonardo DiCaprio has made a secret appearance before a US grand jury investigating a multibillion-dollar fraud surrounding a Malaysian government investment fund, according to US media reports.

 

The Hollywood actor gave closed-door testimony to the jury in the international scandal which included the funding of the blockbuster film ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ in which Mr DiCaprio starred, the Washington Post reported.

Mr DiCaprio is not a suspect in the Department of Justice inquiry, but was said to have had “useful insights” into the Malaysian financier alleged to have stolen billions of dollars from from Malaysia's economic development fund, known as “1MDB”.

Last year the US charged two former Goldman Sachs bankers and the fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, who is also known  as Jho Low, with misappropriating money from the fund in connection one of the world's biggest financial scandals. 

The Department of Justice (DoJ) accused the men of participating in a scheme that stole billions of dollars. Mr Low, who remains at large, denied the charges through a spokesman.

The alleged embezzlement, which authorities say was used to buy Van Gogh paintings and finance Hollywood films, has already contributed to the downfall of the Malaysian prime minister. 

In 2016, the Department of Justice moved to recover more than $1 billion that it said had been stolen, seeking the forfeiture of property including a Manhattan penthouse, a Beverly Hills mansion, a luxury  jet and paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet. 

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