Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Says It Will Return Any Corrupt Funds Linked to Malaysian Scandal

The foundation is alleged to have received several million dollars in donations from money that had been diverted from the 1MDB Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, from which billions were laundered in the U.S.

Earlier in 2013, diverted 1MDB funds were alleged by the DOJ complaint to have been used by Low to purchase a pair of artworks (for a total of $1.1 million) by Ed Ruscha and Mark Ryden at a Christie's auction benefiting the LDF (one of many buys during a spending spree that shook the art world). And at the glittering St. Tropez auction held in 2015, with the likes of David Geffen, Paul Allen, Tom Barrack and Harvey Weinstein in attendance, Low offered the LDF a sculpture by Roy Lichtenstein, 1982's "Brushstroke," valued at roughly $700,000.

There have been growing calls for DiCaprio to not just return the money that went into his foundation, but also his fees as star and producer on Wolf of Wall Street, estimated to be more than $25 million. Last week, the Bruno Manser Fonds rainforest charity directly linked the corruption scandal with deforestation in Malaysia, saying that if DiCaprio did not return the money he should step down from his position as UN Messenger of Peace with a focus on climate change.