Malaysia wealth fund fraud investigation targets gifts given to DiCaprio, Kerr

It is alleged stolen funds were used to finance The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Photo / Supplied

US authorities want to seize jewellery given to Australian model Miranda Kerr and artwork given to Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio as part of their expanded efforts to seize US$540 billion ($747 billion) in assets allegedly stolen from Malaysia's troubled wealth fund.

The US Justice Department suits filed on Thursday (US time) are the department's latest step in its long-running case over the alleged conspiracy to launder money misappropriated from the fund, which has implicated close associates of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The US government has previously alleged Red Granite Pictures - whose chairman Riza Aziz is Razak's stepson - used stolen funds to finance The Wolf of Wall Street, which starred DiCaprio.

The new complaints allege stolen money was also used to finance the 2014 Jim Carrey comedy Dumb and Dumber To and 2015 comedy Daddy's Home starring Will Ferrell.

Prosecutors seek to recover Red Granite's proceeds from those films as well as other assets, including a $US260 million yacht, the Equanimity, owned by Jho Low, a Malaysian financier and friend of Aziz.

US authorities accuse Low of laundering more than US$400 million stolen from the fund through an account in the US, where he lavished his associates, including DiCaprio, with money to gamble and luxury goods.

Low allegedly gave DiCaprio multimillion-dollar artworks by Basquiat and Diane Arbus as gifts.

DiCaprio also received a $US3.2 million Picasso as a birthday gift by an associated of Low's.

In a statement, a spokesman for DiCaprio said he has initiated the process of turning over the artworks to the US government.

Model Miranda Kerr walks down the runway at the Moschino fashion show at MADE Fashion Festival on June 8 in Los Angeles. Photo / AP

DiCaprio's representative also stated he has handed over an Oscar statuette awarded to Marlon Brando.

The statuette was a gift from Red Granite "to thank him for his work on The Wolf of Wall Street" but is not identified in the government's complaint as being tainted with stolen funds.

US authorities also allege Low gave $US8 million worth of jewellery to Kerr from from New York jeweller Lorraine Schwartz in 2014.

The Wall Street Journal reports that while they were dating, he gave Kerr an 11.72 carat heart-shaped diamond as a Valentine's Day present.

Kerr is now married to Snap co-founder Evan Spiegel.

Malaysian Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali on Friday rejected the Justice Department's claims, saying there was no evidence from investigation anywhere that money was misappropriated from 1MDB.

Several other countries including Singapore and Switzerland are conducting probes.

Apandi also expressed "strong concerns" over suggestions Najib, who has not been named in civil cases related to 1MDB, engaged in criminal acts.

The attorney-general said Malaysia would uphold the "rule of law" and take action if there was sufficient evidence of wrongdoing.