Leonardo DiCaprio's charity has been urged to repay donations linked to a Malaysian fund that backed his film The Wolf of Wall Street. The foundation is being investigated by the US department of justice over alleged ties to a $3.5 billion embezzlement scandal whose “misappropriated” funds were used to bankroll the 2013 film, according to reports.

The actor is now facing calls to “give the dirty money back”. According to the US department of justice, certain donations to the Oscar-winner’s environmental charity, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, (the LDF), came directly from billions of dollars siphoned from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.

The department filed a complaint in Los Angeles last month in what has been called the world’s largest embezzlement case, saying that at least $1 billion (£0.76 billion) traceable to the conspiracy was laundered through the US and used to purchase “assets” there.