In recently revealed FBI documents, it was disclosed that actor, producer, Leonardo DiCaprio was questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on his relationship with Malaysian financier, now fugitive, Jho Low.
The FBI had previously accused the actor of being involved in one of the world’s largest corruption scandals, due to his relationship with Low. More specifically, DiCaprio is accused of being involved in a humongous money-laundering scheme of more than $4.5 billion which were allegedly siphoned from the official Malaysian State Investment Fund, more commonly known as 1MDB.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Jho Low: How they met.
According to official reports, Di Caprio had first met Low at a nightclub in 2010 and had continued to stay in touch, ultimately establishing a close relationship. Then, Low went on to fund DiCaprio’s film ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ in 2013 and thus, their relationship developed from being strictly about business to being more social. DiCaprio also commented that Low had started gifting him extremely luxurious and priceless gifts, including Marlon Brando’s $600,000 Oscar Statue. DiCaprio had returned these gifts to concerned authorities after the official investigations into Low’s criminal actions had commenced.
DiCaprio and Low had also previously conceived of many business ideas, including that of a $1M mega-fund to fund more and more films, as well as a theme park in Asia, where the rides referenced iconic Leonardo DiCaprio movies.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Jho Low: What transpired
When the authorities asked DiCaprio as to having any idea regarding where Low’s immense wealth came from, the actor responded that he had apparently been told that it originated from ‘“whale of whales” in Abu Dhabi’ and been told that Low was regarded as the “Mozart of the business world”. When DiCaprio’s publicist, Shawn Sachs, hired someone to run a background check on Low and his dealing, DiCaprio failed to read the report to its entirety. It is widely believed that DiCaprio’s longtime manager, Rick Yorn, was also involved with Low’s dealings.
In 2015, Low had promised to donate an art piece by Roy Lichenstein, a renowned artist, for a fundraiser DiCaprio was planning to host for his foundation in France. The art never arrived at the fundraiser and as a result, DiCaprio had to pull out that piece from the auction. Subsequently, DiCaprio started to detach himself from Low.
Reps of DiCaprio, had requested the authorities to downplay his connection with the fraudster in any upcoming government filed complaints.
Jho Low and other celebrities.
Another notable celebrity who was questioned by the authorities was Kim Kardashian. Kardashian had received $250,000 dollars from Low, after a night of playing baccarat in a private room in Las Vegas. The group included Kardashian, Low and two producers from ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’. Kardashian was given the cash in a trash bag, which she proceeded to put in her carry-on luggage, while flying back to Los Angeles.
Who is Jho Low?
Jho Low, a Malaysian businessman turned fugitive, is widely known as the perpetrator of the 1MBD scandal, which is also termed as one of the largest scandals in the world. Allegedly, Low’s scandal possessed a precise network of a number of shell companies around the world, celebrities and Wall Street traders.
The money acquired was later used by Low for many purposes, one of them was financing Hollywood hits through a production company called ‘Red Granite Films’, one of the many being DiCaprio’s ‘The Wolf of Wall Street”. Currently, Low is ‘hiding’ in Shanghai, in spite of being the target for many governments around the world. Though China has disputed the fact that Low has been hiding there, many Malaysian officers had reported that it was difficult for them to extradite Low from China because of the lack of cooperation by Chinese officials. China has also called these comments ‘groundless and unacceptable’.