Leonardo DiCaprio Urged To Return Donations From Malaysian 'Embezzlement Scheme'

Leonardo DiCaprio has been urged to give back donations made to his charitable foundation which are alleged to have come from a massive embezzlement scheme in Malaysia.

The Department of Justice in the US is investigating links between the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and Malaysian businessman Jho Low, who is among those at the centre of the $3.5 billion scandal, said to be the world’s biggest case of embezzlement.

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Though there’s no suggestion of impropriety on DiCaprio’s part, it’s claimed that Low may have laundered some of the stolen money through donations to the charity, and through his involvement in producing the movie ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’.

Now according to the Daily Telegraph, the Bruno Manser Funds, a rainforest charity in Malaysian Borneo, has penned a letter to DiCaprio calling for him to return the donation money.

It added as a UN Messenger of Peace, DiCaprio has a duty to help stop corruption.

It’s thought that as much as $1 billion of the embezzled funds have been laundered through the US, in a scandal which goes to centre of the Malaysian government.

According to reports, it’s said that Low (pictured above at the Grammy Awards) spent as much as $3 million on marked-up bottles of champagne at a charity event hosted by DiCaprio in 2013, and has bought artworks by Ed Ruscha, Mark Ryden and Roy Lichtenstein at LDF auctions for nearly $2 million.

DiCaprio has also come under criticism over the transparency of his foundation which, because it was set up a ‘donor-advised fund’, does not have to publish details of its accounts.

DiCaprio bailed on hosting a fundraising event for Hillary Clinton last month, and though it was claimed that it was due to scheduling conflicts, it’s been speculated in the US media that he did so due to his connection to the case.

Image credits: Universal/Getty