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Leonardo DiCaprio Questioned In Wolf Of Wall Street Money Scandal

Leonardo DiCaprio attending the 'Wolf Of Wall Street' premiere in NYC in 2013.
Leonardo DiCaprio attending the 'Wolf Of Wall Street' premiere in NYC in 2013.

Oscar-winning Hollywood hunk Leonardo DiCaprio pulled out of hosting a fundraiser for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton last week, saying there was a problem with the timing.

Well, kind of. The FBI needed to question DiCaprio about his apparent links to two suspects accused of embezzling a sovereign fund in Malaysia, Swiss newspaper Le Temps reports.

One suspect Jho Low, a Malaysian billionaire, is accused of looting $700 million from the fund through the Geneva office of oil company PetroSaudi, says the Swiss daily.

The other, Riza Aziz, the stepson of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and a founder of Red Granite Pictures film company, faces allegations that he skimmed $155 million from the fund to help finance hit film The Wolf of Wall Street, a 2013 movie that starred DiCaprio, French weekly L'Express reports.

The two suspects and DiCaprio were spotted together during the 2010 soccer World Cup in South Africa as well as in nightclubs, including one owned by Khadem al-Qubaisi, the former managing director of the International Petroleum Investment Company, who is facing charges in Switzerland about his role in the fund's embezzlement, Le Temps notes.

European media reports say that DiCaprio, Low and Aziz apparently spent $11 million on casinos and authorities are investigating if that money came from the Malaysian fund, which was created in 2009 to modernize the Southeast Asian country.

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Economy

Soft Power Or Sportwashing? What's Driving The Mega Saudi Image Makeover Play

Saudi Arabia suddenly now leads the world in golf, continues to attract top European soccer stars, and invests in culture and entertainment... Its "soft power" strategy is changing the kingdom's image through what critics bash as blatant "sportwashing."

Footballer Karim Benzema, in his Real Madrid kit

Karim Benzema during a football match at Santiago Bernabeu stadium on June 04, 2023, in Madrid, Spain.

Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — A major announcement this week caused quite a stir in the world of professional golf. It wouldn't belong in the politics section were it not for the role played by Saudi Arabia. The three competing world circuits have announced their merger, putting an end to the "civil war" in the world of pro golf.

The Chairman of the new entity is Yassir Al-Rumayan, head of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. Add to this the fact that one of the major players in the world of golf is Donald Trump – three of the biggest tournaments are held on golf courses he owns – and it's easy to see what's at stake.

In the same week, we learned that two leading French footballers, Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kanté, were to join Saudi club Al-Ittihad, also owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. The amount of the transfer is not known, but it is sure to be substantial. There, they will join other soccer stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo.

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