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Leonardo DiCaprio has shed new light on his relationship with a fugitive Malaysian businessman wanted by international authorities in connection with a multi-billion dollar fraud scheme.
Bloomberg Business Week The agency reviewed previously undisclosed FBI documents to try to understand the nature of his personal and professional partnership with Joe Lowe in a massive scheme to evade the sovereign wealth fund known as the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal. This led to the country’s former prime minister being charged with illegal money laundering and abuse of power. He was indicted by the DOJ in 2021 for pursuing a “back-channel lobbying campaign” to scuttle the low-level government’s 1MDB investigation. Low, who has been on the run for eight years, is believed to be living in China. An Interpol Red Notice in 2016 led to his arrest.
An FBI special agent, an IRS investigator and three Justice Department prosecutors interviewed DiCaprio in April 2018. In the year The Wolf of Wall StreetDiCaprio starred and Lowe financed, along with Red Granite’s Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland. The couple dreams of a $1 billion fund for more films, a Warner Bros. theme park in Asia based on rides based on A-lister movies and an eco-friendly resort in Belize. Along the way, their social lives became intertwined, with DiCaprio introducing Lowe to his friends as “my man” and Lowe calling DiCaprio “Ledog”. (Each met the other’s mother.)
“I used to work for him,” DiCaprio later told the grand jury, “and this business translates into socializing. And we saw each other more, and there was more interaction.”
Lowe, who was briefly associated with supermodel Miranda Kerr, was known for his relationships with American celebrities and lavish gifts for those bold-faced names. Kim Kardashian also appears in Bloombergreporting; She once told the FBI how Basquiat gave her an artwork, prompting her then-husband Kanye West to ask for a Monet.
DiCaprio’s relationship with Lowe’s soured after the financier pledged to Roy Lichtenstein in 2015 at an annual fundraiser for the well-known environmental foundation in St. Tropez. “I was embarrassed,” the actor said. DiCaprio later handed over gifts to the federation, including the first edition The Great Gatsby Marlon Brando also won an Oscar On the waterfront. (The Hollywood Reporter (He previously explored the story behind DiCaprio’s Brando Oscar, as well as the base’s low association.)
DiCaprio, who said the government “lives in a world of rumors” has no idea where Lowe’s wealth came from, and his team has been tasked with investigating business and philanthropic partners. Hold the green light to continue working with him. Longtime manager Rick Yorne was central to the low-profile affair. He hired his publicist, Sean Sachs, to run a background check on his finances, but DiCaprio didn’t read it well.
The actor’s lawyers issued a press release asking prosecutors to thank DiCaprio for helping with the investigation. The government rejected the case.
Bloomberg DiCaprio released the material as part of related coverage of Fugees rapper Pras Michel, who will face a federal criminal trial starting in late March after rejecting his plea deal.
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