1MDB drops $248 mn suit against ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ producer: lawyer

Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund 1MDB has withdrawn its $248 million lawsuit against one of the producers of “The Wolf of Wall Street”, who is also the stepson of disgraced former premier Najib Razak.

The fund had accused Riza Aziz and his film companies of misappropriating $248 million for financing movies and other activities when the multi-billion dollar financial scandal broke in the 2010s.

The sprawling case sparked investigations in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore, where the funds were allegedly laundered.

Riza’s lawyer confirmed to AFP Tuesday that 1MDB had dropped the suit at the high court on Monday.

“Riza is relieved, but more so because this entire suit should never have proceeded to trial had 1MDB conducted their due diligence on the existence of the earlier global settlement upon being informed of the same through his statement of defence,” his lawyer Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee told AFP.

AFP was unable to immediately obtain comment from 1MDB’s lawyer.

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Farhan said there had been a global settlement under which Aziz agreed not to challenge the US Department of Justice’s civil forfeiture against him in the United States.

“My client was charged in 2019, and in 2020 the charges were dropped against him and there was a global settlement…”, he said.

While 1MDB dropped charges against the producer, it then brought a lawsuit against him again in 2021, the lawyer said.

“Our defence in that matter is that you cannot file this claim as we have already settled,” he said.

In 2020, Malaysian prosecutors unexpectedly dropped the charges against Riza after he agreed to a deal that would see him return about $107 million in assets to Malaysia.

The extraordinary 1MDB corruption scandal allegedly saw top officials loot billions from state coffers and go on a worldwide spending spree.

A jet-setting fugitive businessman popularly known as Jho Low was the alleged mastermind in the scheme that funnelled billions from 1MDB into US luxury real estate, fine art, and Hollywood films.

Pras Michel, a rapper in the 1990s hit trio The Fugees, was found guilty in 2023 of helping Low funnel money from 1MDB into US politics.

“Wolf of Wall Street” star Leonardo DiCaprio had testified in court about Low’s wild spending sprees and lavish parties, sometimes including Michel.

The US Justice Department previously said millions were used by Riza and Low to purchase high-end real estate in Beverly Hills, New York and London.

The outcry over the fiasco prompted voters to oust Najib and the long-ruling United Malays National Organisation party in 2018 elections.

Currently in jail, Najib moved closer to serving the rest of his sentence at home after an appeal court in January ruled he could use a royal decree supporting his claim.