New light has been shed on Leonardo DiCaprio’s relationship with a fugitive Malaysian businessman who’s wanted by international authorities in connection with a multibillion-dollar fraud scheme.
Bloomberg Businessweek reviewed previously undisclosed FBI documents detailing its grilling of the actor as the agency sought to understand the nature of his personal and professional partnership with Jho Low, the accused mastermind of a colossal scheme to fleece a sovereign wealth fund known as the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, which has led to the conviction of the country’s former prime minister for money laundering and abuse of power. Low was charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2021 for pursuing a “back channel lobbying campaign” to drop the government’s 1MDB investigation. A fugitive for roughly eight years, Low is believed to be residing in China. An Interpol Red Notice was issued for his arrest in 2016.
An FBI special agent, an IRS investigator and three DOJ prosecutors interviewed DiCaprio in April 2018. After the latter met Low at a nightclub in 2010, they pursued various projects together, most notably The Wolf of Wall Street, in which DiCaprio starred and Low provided financing, with Red Granite’s Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland producing. The pair also dreamed up a $1 billion fund for more films, a Warner Bros. theme park in Asia with rides based on the A-lister’s movies, plus an eco-friendly resort in Belize. Along the way, their social lives became entwined, with DiCaprio introducing Low to his friends as “my man” and Low calling DiCaprio “Ldogg.” (They each met the other’s mother.)
“I was working for him,” DiCaprio later told a grand jury, “and that business also translates into being social. And so we saw each other more, and there was more interaction.”
Low, who briefly dated the supermodel Miranda Kerr, was known for cultivating relationships with American celebrities as well as giving grandiose gifts to those same bold-faced names. Kim Kardashian also features in Bloomberg’s reporting; she recounted to the FBI how Low once offered her an artwork by Basquiat, prompting her then-husband Kanye West to ask for a Monet.
DiCaprio’s relationship with Low fractured after the financier promised a Roy Lichtenstein piece to his eponymous environmental foundation’s annual fundraiser in St. Tropez in 2015, only for it not to appear. The actor “was embarrassed,” the government noted. DiCaprio later handed over Low gifts to the Feds, including a first edition of The Great Gatsby as well as the Oscar statuette Marlon Brando won for On the Waterfront. (The Hollywood Reporter previously explored the saga behind DiCaprio’s Brando Oscar, as well as his foundation’s Low association.)
DiCaprio, whom the government described as living “in a world of rumors,” told his interrogators that he didn’t know where Low’s wealth came from, and that the vetting of business and philanthropic partners was delegated to his team, who’d given him the green light to continue working with him. Rick Yorn, his longtime manager, was centrally involved in the Low dealings. Shawn Sachs, his publicist, hired someone to conduct a background check on the financier but DiCaprio didn’t thoroughly read it.
The actor’s attorneys drafted a press release requesting that prosecutors thank DiCaprio for aiding with its investigation. The government declined the overture.
Bloomberg released the DiCaprio material as it published related coverage about Fugees rapper Pras Michel, who will face a federal criminal trial beginning in late March for his own involvement with Low after declining a plea deal.
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March 03, 2023 at 06:32AM
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Report: Feds Grilled Leonardo DiCaprio on Business Relationship With International Fugitive Fraudster - Hollywood Reporter
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