The U.S. Department of Justice are attempting to seize $1 billion in assets, which include the profits, royalties, and distribution proceeds from the Hollywood hit “The Wolf of Wall Street.”  The film, which grossed $392 million at the box office, is one of several assets that federal investigators say is part of a massive money-flipping scheme by the Malaysian government.

On Wednesday (July 20), the DOJ filed a civil suit claiming that billions were illegally transferred to various international banks through an investment fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad. Started by the Malaysian government, 1MDB would invest in projects across the globe and return the profits to the citizens of Malaysia.

“They treated this public trust as a personal bank account,” Lynch said at a press conference on Wednesday morning. She said the investigation was carried out by the government’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

Besides the U.S., Singapore and other countries are conducting their own investigation. Singapore, for instance, had seized 240 million ($177 million US) after conducting their own investigation.

“The Wolf of Wall Street” only scratches the surface of this elaborate scheme. The alleged corrupt financers behind it all spent $3.5 billion on rare paintings, a private jet, luxury condos in New York and London, and even a hotel in Los Angeles.

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