‘Wolf ofWall Street’ makers in scam case

“TheWolf ofWall Street” traced the rise and fall of a real-life penny-stock swindler. Such scams are not uncommon, but the filmmakers managed toweave an epic tale of greed and debauchery.

It now appears theywould have had amuch grander story to tell had they turned the camera around. In a court filing released lastweek, theU.S. Justice Department accused the film’s producers and their associates of looting billions of dollars, corruption allegedly carried off with state sponsorship.

The case spans the globe, frombanks in Singapore to penthouses in London to art auctions inNew York.

At its center are two friends: Riza Aziz, CEOof Red Granite Pictures, and Jho Low, a 34-year-old financier. Though neitherwas criminally charged, a forfeiture complaint alleges that they used funds stolen from1MalaysiaDevelopment Berhad, a state-run development fund, to buy luxury real estate, fine art and jewelry and to pay gambling expenses.

But the allegations gowell beyond Aziz and Low. Malaysian Prime MinisterNajib Razak is alleged to have received hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds. (Aziz isNajib’s stepson.)

Leonardo DiCaprio, the star of “TheWolf ofWall Street,” is also caught up in the case. According to the complaint, he gambled with Low, Aziz and a Malaysian official in 2012 at the Venetian ResortHotel Casino in Las Vegas. On that occasion, Lowallegedly withdrewmore than $1 million fromfunds that traced back to theMalaysia fund.