Feds seek 'Dumb and Dumber To' rights and artwork given to DiCaprio

Kevin McCoy | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Feds move to seize 'Wolf of Wall Street' rights in 1MDB probe The Department of Justice on Wednesday moved to seize roughly $1 billion in assets, including future proceeds from the 2013 film "The Wolf of Wall Street" in an international corruption investigation.

Federal prosecutors are seeking the rights to Hollywood movies Dumb and Dumber To and Daddy's Home in the latest expansion of a forfeiture effort launched to recover more than $4.5 billion in assets allegedly stolen from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.

Artwork given to actor Leonardo DiCaprio, including a Pablo Picasso painting bought for $3.2 million, are also on the recovery list prosecutors disclosed Thursday as the estimated total value of assets in the U.S. allegedly linked to the scam rose to $1.7 billion.

The new forfeiture targets join a targeted inventory that already includes future profits from The Wolf of Wall Street, the 2013 blockbuster movie that starred DiCaprio, plus Old Masters artwork and luxury real estate in New York and California.

In all, the federal effort ranks as the largest action ever pursued under the U.S. Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, prosecutors said.

The money used to buy the assets allegedly was stolen from 1MDB, a fund intended to help Malaysia by issuing bonds that would fund economic development projects. But federal prosecutors allege that a group of Malaysian officials and other conspirators from 2009 through 2015 siphoned away billions of dollars by diverting bond funds, defrauding foreign banks and other schemes.

The conspirators then laundered the proceeds through personal investments, including luxury condos in New York City and a Beverly Hills hotel, luxury purchases, such as the purchase of the 300-foot Cayman Islands-registered yacht Equanimity, and other transactions.

"These cases involve billions of dollars that should have been used to help the people of Malaysia, but instead was used by a small number of individuals to fuel their astonishing greed," said Sandra Brown, the acting Los Angeles-based U.S. Attorney.

A 251-page federal court complaint filed in Los Angeles outlined an alleged Kuala Lumpur-to-Hollywood plot in which funds allegedly diverted from 1MDB became entangled with finances of well-known U.S. films.

The alleged conspirators included Low Taek Jho, a Malaysian national the complaint said was involved in creating the 1MDB fund "and exercised significant control over its dealings. Another alleged plotter is Riza Shahriz Bin Abdul Aziz, a Malaysian national who is a friend of Low as well as the co-founder of Red Granite Pictures, a Hollywood movie production and distribution studio.

Red Granite owns rights to Dumb and Dumber To, which starred Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, and Daddy's Home, which featured Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. The studio also owns rights to future profits from The Wolf of Wall Street.

"As we have previously disclosed, Red Granite is actively engaged in discussions with the Justice Department aimed at resolving these civil cases and is fully cooperating," the company said in a statement Thursday.

The alleged scandal-tainted gifts received by DiCaprio include the Picasso painting titled “Nature Morte au Crane de Taureau,” a Diane Arbus photograph purchased for $750,000, and a collage by artist Jean-Michel Basquiat purchased for $9,191,040. Funding for the artwork was allegedly diverted from 1MDB bond sales.

Low was identified as the alleged benefactor who provided the Arbus and Basquiat gifts. Eric Tan, a Low associate, gave DiCaprio the Picasso painting with a handwritten note that said, "Happy belated Birthday!" the court complaint said.

Acting on DiCaprio's behalf, representatives of the actor contacted the Department of Justice in July 2016 to determine whether any gifts or charitable donations originated with people named in an earlier 1MDB forfeiture action. DiCaprio offered to return any gifts or donations, with government assistance.

Before Thursday's court filing, DiCaprio "initiated (the) return of these items, which were received and accepted by him for the purpose of being included in an annual charity auction to benefit his eponymous foundation," representatives of the actor said in a statement.

DiCaprio has also returned a Hollywood Oscar award originally won by Marlon Brando, which Red Granite gave him as a gift for his work on The Wolf of Wall Street, the statement added.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Kevin McCoy on Twitter: @kmccoynyc