Leonardo DiCaprio Testified About Accused Swindler Who Produced ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio recently made an appearance before a grand jury, looking into the matter of the Malaysian financier who, among other things, gifted the actor with an Oscar that once belonged to Marlon Brando.
According to the Washington Post, the Hollywood superstar traveled to Washington in order to testify in the probe of Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, a Malaysian financier who authorities claim stole billions of dollars from 1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund controlled by the Malaysian government. Low is a fugitive from justice and is believed to be hiding in China.
DiCaprio testified in Washington at some undetermined time in the last few months, the Post said, and was somehow brought into and out of the courthouse without any media or bystanders noticing the presence of one of the world’s most recognizable movie stars. As grand jury proceedings are secret, it’s not known exactly what he told the panel.
The actor, prosecutors told the newspaper, is not a target of the probe. He is, rather, “a witness who can provide useful insights about a swashbuckling Malaysian financier alleged to have pilfered and laundered billions of dollars from the investment fund and then financed a lobbying campaign to end the investigation,” The Post said. Others mentioned in the probe include former Fugees member Prakazrel “Pras” Michel and 2016 Trump campaign fundraiser Elliott Broidy.
Low, who for a time lived in the United States, made a habit of ingratiating himself with celebrities by giving them expensive gifts. One of those was the Academy Award that Marlon Brando won in 1954 for On The Waterfront, which Low acquired and then presented to DiCaprio. As a result of the probe, DiCaprio was forced to return the trophy in 2017, although he did finally win an Oscar of his own for the 2015 film The Revenant. A Picasso painting presented by Low to DiCaprio was also seized.
Scoop: Leonardo DiCaprio testifies before D.C. grand jury as part of U.S. probe into Malaysian corruption https://t.co/MWDEVjiC5i
— Matt Zapotosky (@mattzap) January 4, 2019
Low also had a hand in producing DiCaprio’s 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, and the actor thanked him from the stage after winning a Golden Globe for that role. The film, ironically, was about another large financial fraud.
Other gifts to celebrities from the financier have included a white Ferrari, which Low reportedly gave Kim Kardashian as a wedding gift at the time of her short-lived marriage to basketball player Kris Humphries in 2011. He reportedly also gave a see-through piano to model Miranda Kerr as a gift.
