In the 1990s, Jordan Belfort’s “pump and dump” scam earned him millions of dollars and 22 months in jail after being convicted of securities fraud. His extravagant rise and fall was depicted in The Wolf of Wall Street, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role.
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In his suit, filed in Los Angeles on Thursday, the former stockbroker claims the scandal engulfing 1MDB has curtailed his ability to profit further from the rights to his story, Variety reported. The suit claims Belfort believed Riza when he claimed the funding for came from wealthy private investors and Goldman Sachs.
Among the 44 signatories were PKR central council members, Cabinet ministers and deputy ministers, including Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, Works Minister Baru Bian, Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari, deputy ministers Sivarasa Rasiah and Kamaruddin Jaafar, and PKR vice-presidents Tian Chua and Ali Biju.
The statement said: “The act of demonstrating in front of the party headquarters on Jan 18 and the Housing and Local Government Ministry on Jan 21 has stained the image of the party and the government.” It added: “The sacking of the seven central youth wing leaders by letter on Jan 15 is against the party Constitution and betrays the voices of the grassroots members who elected them.”
The statement also said comments made openly by several PKR state chairmen demanding Madam Zuraida’s sacking “made matters worse” as both factions had agreed not to issue any provocative statements in public.
Najib, who served as Malaysia’s finance minister before becoming prime minister, founded and chaired 1MDB. He was arrested two months after his defeat in the 2018 Malaysian election and faces a series of criminal trials after being charged with 42 counts of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power.
In one of his trials, Najib stands accused of diverting US$700 million from SRC International – a former subsidiary of 1MDB – into his personal bank accounts. In a separate trial Najib faces 21 charges of money laundering and four charges of abuse of power, relating to suspicious transactions worth more than US$480 million at 1MDB.
Malaysian authorities have seized cash and luxury goods worth up to US$273 million from properties linked to Najib, but he claims the funds were donated to him by Saudi Arabia’s royal family and that the items were mostly gifts to his wife and daughter.