Getty Image / Michael Loccisano / Staff
Jordan Belfort is the former penny stock scamming stockbroker who founded the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont in the 1980s and 1990s. Belfort’s hard-partying antics and ascension to the ultra-wealthy status made for a fantastic vehicle for the Martin Scorsese movie The Wolf of Wall Street. Despite the movie based on Belfort’s life excelling at the box office and making $392 million internationally, Jordan is suing the producers of the Oscar-nominated The Wolf of Wall Street for $300 million 13 years after the movie debuted in theaters.
The former stockbroker, who was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in Scorsese’s film, has brought a lawsuit against the producers of The Wolf of Wall Street. The amazing reason why the former scamming stockbroker brought a lawsuit is because he believes the producers scammed him.
Red Granite Productions, the independent film production and distribution company behind The Wolf of Wall Street, was alleged to be involved in a Malaysian embezzlement plot.
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One of the founders of Red Granite Productions is Hollywood producer Riza Aziz, who is the stepson of the former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is currently under arrest in Malaysia on money laundering charges. The company Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is involved in the scandal, and the U.S. has recovered more than $1 billion, the largest civil forfeiture ever concluded by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Department of Justice recovered assets owned by fugitive Malaysian businessman Jho Low including “high-end real estate in Beverly Hills, New York and London; a luxury boutique hotel in Beverly Hills; and tens of millions of dollars in business investments that Low allegedly made with funds traceable to misappropriated 1MDB monies.”
Malaysian prosecutors claim that Low gave Red Granite Productions a $9 million advance for The Wolf of Wall Street. Now the film is shrouded with allegations that it was funded by dirty money. Jordan Belfort is attempting to sue for damages from the negative press.
Red Granite CEO Riza Aziz was arrested last year and is facing charges for siphoning $248 million from a Malaysian state-run development fund.
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Belfort signed over his rights to the movie to Red Granite to make the movie based on his book of the same name. Belfort says he had no idea that the movie of his life was made with stolen money, and that hurts his reputation. Reminder: Belfort spent 22 months in prison for securities fraud and money laundering after coming to a plea deal for a lesser sentence for giving testimony against several partners and subordinates.
“Belfort is significantly damaged by Red Granite’s tainting of his book/story rights, coupled with Red Granite’s inability and/or refusal to exploit and maximize the rights acquired from Belfort … due to the highly publicized scandal,” Belfort’s lawyers said.
“Red Granite and its principals did not disclose to Mr. Belfort that they were using funds obtained from engaging in racketeering and other criminal activity,” Belfort’s lawyer said. “Had Mr. Belfort known those facts, he would have never agreed to enter into this contract.”
Red Granite attorney Matthew Schwartz responded by calling the lawsuit “desperate and supremely ironic,” and said, “Jordan Belfort’s lawsuit is nothing more than a desperate and supremely ironic attempt to get out from under an agreement that for the first time in his life made him rich and famous through lawful and legitimate means.”
Belfort is suing Red Granite Productions for $300 million.
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According to Screenrant , Belfort gave an interview in 2017 where he called Red Granite “criminals,” and noted that the movie’s multi-million launch party “wouldn’t seem out of place on the floors of Stratton Oakmont.” “Anybody who does this has stolen money…I knew it, it was so obvious,” Belfort said.
A couple of weeks ago, Jordan Belfort posted some personal home movies to compare what his real-life looked like compared to the lifestyle depicted in the movie The Wolf of Wall Street.
[NYDN]