DiCaprio feels the heat over alleged 1MDB benefits
Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio was faced with protest by a number of anti-corruption activists from Malaysia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom when he arrived at the Odeon Theater in London on October 16 for a movie premiere.
The actor, critisied by NGOs Malaysia’s Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund and London Bersih for allegedly having received funds siphoned off scandal-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), was supposed to attend the premiere of the climate change documentary Before the Flood, produced by Fisher Stevens.
But faced with the activists, DiCaprio reportedly slipped into the theater through a back door, avoiding his fans who were gathered in the front of the building, and just stayed for five minutes before quickly leaving, with the organiser symbolically keeping an empty chair bearing his portrait.
DiCaprio is alleged to have received at least $25 millions diverted from the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund for his role as star and producer of The Wolf of Wall Street, alleged by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to have been funded by stolen Malaysian money and produced by Red Granite Pictures, co-founded by Riza Aziz, the stepson of the Malaysian prime minister and a major figure in a DOJ filing.
DiCaprio, who is United Nations Messenger of Peace for climate change, is also alleged to have received laundered 1MDB money for his environmental charity, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, from his former close associate Jho Low, the controversial Malaysian businessman at the heart of the 1MDB scandal.
“DiCaprio lacks the credibility for such a public role,” said the executive director of Bruno Manser Fund, Lukas Straumann, who alleged that DiCaprio and his foundation had benefited from his involvement with Jho Low and Riza Aziz with over $2 million in donations received by his foundation.
Straumann also called DiCaprio’s environmental engagement, particularly his criticism of deforestation in parts of Borneo, “cynical hypocrisy” when he positions himself as an “eco-warrior” but seems to have no qualms to take contributions from a fund such a 1MDB with a direct link to major environmental issues in Malaysia.
C4’s UK representative Stanley Sudhagaran said, “We are here to protest against DiCaprio for stealing Malaysian people’s money; we are asking that the money be returned to Malaysia, where it belongs.”
DiCaprio is seen to be “Hollywood Actor 1” in a DOJ filing investigating the 1MDB scandal. The DOJ seeks to seize future earnings of Wolf of Wall Street which reportedly grossed $390 million at the box office, and continues to earn royalties from television and other sources.
The Bruno Manser Fund also called on DiCaprio and his foundation to disclose their full financial relationship with 1MDB. The group wrote to Swiss bank Julius Baer, the main bank linked to his foundation, to ask about acceptance of donations from “politically exposed persons” in Malaysia.
Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio was faced with protest by a number of anti-corruption activists from Malaysia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom when he arrived at the Odeon Theater in London on October 16 for a movie premiere. The actor, critisied by NGOs Malaysia’s Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund and London Bersih for allegedly having received funds siphoned off scandal-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), was supposed to attend the premiere of the climate change documentary Before the Flood, produced by Fisher Stevens. [adrotate banner="126"] But faced with the activists, DiCaprio reportedly slipped into the theater through...
Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio was faced with protest by a number of anti-corruption activists from Malaysia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom when he arrived at the Odeon Theater in London on October 16 for a movie premiere.
The actor, critisied by NGOs Malaysia’s Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4), Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund and London Bersih for allegedly having received funds siphoned off scandal-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), was supposed to attend the premiere of the climate change documentary Before the Flood, produced by Fisher Stevens.
But faced with the activists, DiCaprio reportedly slipped into the theater through a back door, avoiding his fans who were gathered in the front of the building, and just stayed for five minutes before quickly leaving, with the organiser symbolically keeping an empty chair bearing his portrait.
DiCaprio is alleged to have received at least $25 millions diverted from the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund for his role as star and producer of The Wolf of Wall Street, alleged by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to have been funded by stolen Malaysian money and produced by Red Granite Pictures, co-founded by Riza Aziz, the stepson of the Malaysian prime minister and a major figure in a DOJ filing.
DiCaprio, who is United Nations Messenger of Peace for climate change, is also alleged to have received laundered 1MDB money for his environmental charity, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, from his former close associate Jho Low, the controversial Malaysian businessman at the heart of the 1MDB scandal.
“DiCaprio lacks the credibility for such a public role,” said the executive director of Bruno Manser Fund, Lukas Straumann, who alleged that DiCaprio and his foundation had benefited from his involvement with Jho Low and Riza Aziz with over $2 million in donations received by his foundation.
Straumann also called DiCaprio’s environmental engagement, particularly his criticism of deforestation in parts of Borneo, “cynical hypocrisy” when he positions himself as an “eco-warrior” but seems to have no qualms to take contributions from a fund such a 1MDB with a direct link to major environmental issues in Malaysia.
C4’s UK representative Stanley Sudhagaran said, “We are here to protest against DiCaprio for stealing Malaysian people’s money; we are asking that the money be returned to Malaysia, where it belongs.”
DiCaprio is seen to be “Hollywood Actor 1” in a DOJ filing investigating the 1MDB scandal. The DOJ seeks to seize future earnings of Wolf of Wall Street which reportedly grossed $390 million at the box office, and continues to earn royalties from television and other sources.
The Bruno Manser Fund also called on DiCaprio and his foundation to disclose their full financial relationship with 1MDB. The group wrote to Swiss bank Julius Baer, the main bank linked to his foundation, to ask about acceptance of donations from “politically exposed persons” in Malaysia.
