'Wolf of Wall Street' illegally financed through fraudulent fund, DOJ claims
Does art imitate life? Or does life imitate art?
The Department of Justice filed a civil suit on Wednesday charging that The Wolf of Wall Street was financed illegally with stolen money.
The movie about illegal stock trading was funded by the production company Red Granite Pictures, which has since been linked to a fraudulent state fund in Malaysia meant to promote local economic development in the country. The embattled prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, is connected to the fund.
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The movie is just a small part of a larger case against the Malaysian fund and assets connected to it in which the US hopes to seize $1 billion.
The Justice Department is seeking future profits and royalties from The Wolf of Wall Street as part of an effort to recover $3.5 billion that was misused by the fund, 1Malaysia Development Bhd, or 1MDB.
If the people involved in the Malaysian fund need some guidance on what happens next, they can always watch the movie.
Emma Hinchliffe is a business reporter at Mashable. Before joining Mashable, she covered business and metro news at the Houston Chronicle.
