Wolf of Wall Street producer agrees to pay RM234 million settlement in 1MDB case

Updated 6 years ago · Published on 7 Mar 2018 11:15AM · 6 Comments

PRODUCERS of Hollywood movie The Wolf of Wall Street have agreed to pay US$60 million (RM234 million) to the US government as part of a federal settlement deal, following allegations it profited from funds stolen from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), according to US magazine Variety.

Red Granite Pictures, which is owned by Prime Minister Najib Razak’s stepson Riza Aziz, filed a joint stipulation with US federal prosecutors yesterday where it did not admit to any wrongdoing in the 1MDB scandal.

“We are glad to finally put this matter behind us and look forward to refocusing all of our attention back on our film business,” the company was quoted by Variety as saying in a statement.

The production house had reached the settlement agreement with federal prosecutors in September last year. In yesterday’s stipulation, the company agreed to make the forfeiture payment in three installments: US$30 million within 30 days, US$20 million within the next 180 days, and the final US$10 million within 180 days after that, said the report.

US prosecutors had filed a civil asset forfeiture action against the company in July 2016, as part of a much broader effort to recoup more than US$1 billion allegedly embezzled from 1MDB.

Prosecutors alleged that Riza had used more than US$100 million taken from 1MDB to finance The Wolf of Wall Street, Dumb and Dumber To and Daddy’s Home. He has denied any knowledge of using stolen funds for his films.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) has accused billionaire financier Low Taek Jho, who is a close friend of Riza and Najib, of masterminding a scheme to steal US$4.5 billion from the fund.

Riza is also accused of using 1MDB’s funds to buy luxury real estate, including a US$35 million condominium in New York, a US$41.8 million London townhouse, and a US$17.5 million mansion in Beverly Hills. The government is also seeking to seize those properties.

1MDB is the pet project of Najib, who set the development fund up in 2009 and chaired its advisory board. The debt-laden company is now the subject of money-laundering investigations in at least six countries including Switzerland, Singapore and the US.

Najib has repeatedly denied any role in the alleged misappropriation of funds, and has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Attorney-General’s Chambers. – March 7, 2018.

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Comments

  • so riza and jho low admitted using 1MDB money to produce Hollywood films.

    Posted 6 years ago by Kijang perak · Reply

  • I really hope the whole truth will be known before this G14 election. This will be the final straw that will break the camel's back. As the real truth is inching nearer, the crook MO1 is in panic mode. A wounded tiger is trying to fight back. But the rakyat votes will be decisive. Finally we see the defeat of umnocrook .

    Posted 6 years ago by Peter Teng · Reply

  • With the settlement agreement, where does it leaves the Malaysian rakyat. The allegations that the film producing are from the stolen 1MDB funds and now it is allowed to carry on without anymore hiccups. Poor Malaysian fully taken for a ride. Nevermind we shall have justice served aftr GE14.

    Posted 6 years ago by Lee Lee · Reply

  • ///Riza Aziz, the stepson of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, had claimed that US$94 million of 1MDB funds which ended up in accounts he had access to, was a gift from Aabar BVI, said the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
    "(Riza) Aziz claimed, including in his 2012 US tax return, that this money was a 'gift' from Aabar-BVI," it said in its suit yesterday.///--Malaysiakini

    Can both father and son be recipient of donations or one donates to the other, from the donor company?

    Posted 6 years ago by Meng Kow Loh · Reply

  • Another proof that 1MDB crimes are real, after the court actions in SG, ID, CH and elsewhere. I look forward to new jokes from BN comedians to spin this one.

    Posted 6 years ago by Kuasa Rakyat · Reply

  • Wow, stole Us100 millions but has to settle Us60 millions only! What happened to the balance of Us40 millions?? US justice department, are you for real?!

    Posted 6 years ago by Leong Kuy Leng · Reply