The payment is part of a federal investigation into mis-spent monies allegedly taken from a Malaysian state investment fund.
The producers behind hit Hollywood movie The Wolf of Wall Street have agreed to recompense the United States government to the tune of $60 million, following allegations that the film was funded with money stolen from a Malaysian state investment fund.
In the summer of 2017, Red Granite Pictures was implicated in a scandal in which around $3.5 billion of money from the government-run 1MDB fund was said to have gone to bank accounts of associates of Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak, and used for lavish expenses and investments over the world.
One of these vehicles is alleged to be Red Granite Pictures, which was co-founded by Riza Aziz, Najib’s step-son. It was said to have used misappropriated 1MDB money to fund not only 2013’s Martin Scorsese and Leonardo Dicaprio film The Wolf of Wall Street, but also blockbuster movies like Dumb and Dumber To and Daddy’s Home.
Leonardo DiCaprio starred in 'The Wolf of Wall Street'
Red Granite denied the accusations at the time, but according to a California court filing on Wednesday (March 7th), it has now agreed to pay the American government a sum of $60 million in three instalments: $30 million within 30 days, $20 million within the next 180 days, and the final $10 million within a final 180-day period.
More: Leonardo DiCaprio hands back Picasso painting amid Malaysian corruption investigation
However, the settlement explicitly states that the payments should not be construed as “an admission of wrongdoing or liability on the part of Red Granite”.
“We are glad to finally put this matter behind us and look forward to refocusing all of our attention back on our film business,” Red Granite said in a subsequent statement on the court filing, according to Deadline.
Red Granite had been very obscure until it had stumped up $100 million to help finance The Wolf of Wall Street. Three months into shooting, Red Granite also gave the film’s star Leonardo DiCaprio a lavish birthday gift: the best actor Oscar given to Marlon Brando for On the Waterfront, worth around $600,000.
DiCaprio surrendered the statue in June 2016 as part of the 1MDB investigation, which is part of a wider $1.7 billion action by the US government to reclaim property allegedly bought with 1MDB cash.
More: Tom Hardy tattoos Leonardo DiCaprio’s name on himself after losing bet
Ben Affleck launched his directing career 10 years ago with his film of Dennis Lehane's...
A wrenching saga of survival and revenge, Alejandro G. Inarritu's new epic is just as...
Hugh Glass is a skilled hunter, experienced in trapping some of the most predatory of...
Coarse and not exactly subtle, this dark drama might disappoint viewers expecting a more traditional...
At age 71, Martin Scorsese proves with this riotous romp that he's one of the...
It's a wild ride of drinking, drugs, debauchery and deception when the ambitious Jordan Belfort...
Jordan Belfort started out his stockbroker business in a tiny office with a small group...
Clearly something went horribly wrong as this thriller was being made, because despite a solid...
Jordan Belfort is a successful stockbroker, multi-millionaire and motivational speaker from New York who had...
Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge) is the perfect director to take on F. Scott Fitzgerald's iconic...