Millions of dollars forfeited by the company behind the Leonardo DiCaprio film "Wolf of Wall Street" have been sent to a Malaysian account set up to recover money looted in a massive state fraud, officials said Tuesday.
Billions of dollars were stolen from sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, allegedly by ex-prime minister Najib Razak and his cronies in a crime that stretched around the world.
The US Department of Justice is in the process of seizing assets it says are linked to the scandal. It has now transferred funds that were handed over by Red Granite Pictures, the Hollywood production company behind the 2013 film about a massive stock market scam that netted its perpetrator millions of dollars.
Malaysia's attorney-general Tommy Thomas said the money represented "the first instalment of funds recovered from asset seizures related to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)".