The famous actor was at the center of a scandal related to financial fraud and corruption schemes, in which many famous personalities were involved, including Malaysian financier Joe Low.
New details have surfaced about actor Leonardo DiCaprio’s ties to Joe Low, a Malaysian financier fugitive currently wanted by international authorities for his links to one of the world’s biggest corruption scandals. Bloomberg revealed new details from FBI documents.
It is noted that in 2018 authorities questioned DiCaprio about his relationship with Lowe, who is accused of being involved in a money laundering scheme worth more than $4.5 billion, withdrawn from the state investment fund of Malaysia.
According to the report, DiCaprio met Lowe at a nightclub in 2010, after which they developed a close relationship.
“I worked for him … and this business also became social. And so we saw each other more often, and there was more interaction,” DiCaprio said then.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Joe Low
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Photo: Getty Images
Also the actor and financier has been negotiating $1 billion for more film production as well as a Warner Bros theme park in Asia with rides based on DiCaprio films. DiCaprio and Low also discussed the development of an eco-friendly resort in Belize.
In addition to funding Lowe’s 2013 Oscar-nominated film The Wolf of Wall Street, which starred DiCaprio, Lowe also showered the actor with various lavish gifts. According to the report, they included a $600,000 Oscar Marlon Brandon statue and a $9 million painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat.
According to a 2018 New York Times report, DiCaprio returned these gifts to the authorities after an investigation into Law’s alleged siphoning of billions of dollars from a Malaysian fund.
The Bloomberg report also revealed details of the FBI’s interrogation of Kim Kardashian about her interactions with Lowe. Kardashian told investigators that she once spent until 5 a.m. at a Las Vegas casino with Lowe, where he abandoned her attempts to return a $350,000 winnings.
In 2021, the U.S. Justice Department accused Lowe, who is believed to be hiding in China, of “backdoor lobbying” to influence the government to stop investigating him and others involved in the 1MDB scandal.
Recall that the 1MDB fund was at the center of a scandal after several billion dollars were withdrawn from it between 2009 and 2014. The scandal led to numerous government investigations and the resignation of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The US Department of Justice estimates that a total of at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund, which was used to pay bribes to government officials, replenish the fund created for this fund, which was controlled by the former prime minister, and to buy jewelry, art and real estate.
Focus also wrote that in 2020, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak received 12 years in prison for corruption.
