Entertainment

Leonardo DiCaprio Urged To Repay Donations Linked To Malaysian Embezzlement Scandal

Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Kaitlan Collins Contributor
Font Size:

Leonardo DiCaprio is being urged to repay donations he received from a Malaysian fund that backed the hit film “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Leonardo DiCaprio wins Oscar

(Photo: VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images)

The actor’s charity accepted donations from a Malaysian rainforest fund that were purportedly used to fund the 2013 film about the wealthy stockbroker Jordan Belfort.

The Justice Department is now investigating the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation because it says that donations to his environmental charity are directly linked to IMDB — a wealth fund owned by the Malaysian government that is the subject of a Justice Department asset seizure complaint after the funds were reportedly “misappropriated.” (RELATED: DiCaprio Backs Out Of Clinton Fundraiser)

WATCH:

“According to a complaint filed in Los Angeles by the Justice Department, at least $1 billion traceable to the embezzlement scandal was laundered through the U.S. and used to purchase several ‘assets,'” Page Six noted Thursday.

“The complaint also alleges that millions were funneled to Riza Aziz, the stepson of the Malaysian prime minister whose production company financed ‘The Wolf of Wall Street.'”

(Photo: Reuters)

(Photo: Reuters)

After DiCaprio backed out of a fundraiser he was scheduled to host for Hillary Clinton last week, many assumed it was because he was recently linked to the embezzlement scandal, though he blamed it on scheduling conflicts with work. (RELATED: Leonardo Dicaprio Backs Out Of Clinton Fundraiser For Climate Change Documentary)