The Department of Justice says “life imitated art” when more than $3.5 billion was diverted from a Malaysian development fund and partly used to finance the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street” in a money-laundering scheme.
The DOJ said on July 20 that the money, which belonged to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), was allegedly stolen by high-level officials of 1MDB and their associates. The fund was launched by the Malaysian government to promote economic development in the country and was supposed to be used to improve the wellbeing of the Malaysian people.
The Justice Department has taken action in an attempt to forfeit more than $1 billion of the misappropriated money, the amount it said was laundered through the United States.
“The Department of Justice will not allow the American financial system to be used as a conduit for corruption,” said Attorney General Loretta Lynch in a statement.
“With this action, we are seeking to forfeit and recover funds that were intended to grow the Malaysian economy and support the Malaysian people. Instead, they were stolen, laundered through American financial institutions and used to enrich a few officials and their associates, ” she added.
