Wolf of Wall Street Said He Knew Producers Were “F–ing Criminals”

Leonardo Dicaprio played Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street. Photo courtesy of Itcher.

Summary: Jordan Belfort confirms that the producers of The Wolf of Wall Street were criminals.

It takes one to know one, and the Wolf of Wall Street is claiming he could tell the producers of his biopic were sleazy criminals.

Former Wall Street guru and convicted felon, Jordan Belfort was portrayed by Leonardo Dicaprio in the hit 2013 film, Wolf of Wall Street. The movie documented his wild drug and sex-fueled life while he was the head of a stock brokerage company. He was eventually found guilty by the FBI for securities fraud and money laundering, and he spent 22 months in prison, where he met comedian Tommy Chong who encouraged him to write a book about his life.

The Wolf of Wall Street earned almost $400 million and was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Director for Martin Scorcese and Best Actor for Dicaprio. While the film was based on crimes with big money, it was still a surprise when the behind-the-scenes drama was just as scandalous as the movie’s content.

Financiers for the film were allegedly involved in a multibillion-dollar Malaysian corruption scandal. Belfort recently told Fi News that he had sensed there was something wrong with the producers from the beginning, even calling their shadiness “obvious.”

“If you look at the movie, for instance: the movie’s a huge success, and then it turns out the guys who financed it were criminals,” Belfort said. “Leo [DiCaprio] got sucked in. Leo’s an honest guy. But I met these guys, and said to Anne [Koppe, Belfort’s fiancee], these guys are f—ing criminals.”

The production company behind the film, Red Granite, was started by Riza Aziz, the stepson of Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak. Belfort said that he knew something was weird about Aziz and his friend Jho Low, who did not have a role within Red Granite but was a businessman at the center of the Department of Justice’s July lawsuit.

The DOJ claimed that billions were embezzled from the country’s wealth account, 1Malaysia Development Berdhard (1MDB). Some of that stolen money was allegedly given to Aziz by his stepfather, and then misappropriated by Aziz and his Red Granite co-founder Joey McFarland.

In the DOJ lawsuit, it stated that Razak diverted money from the 1MDB account through shell companies, and the embezzled funds were spent on things such as yachts, artwork, and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Belfort said one red flag he noticed was that Red Granite had spent millions in 2011 on an extravagant launch party in Cannes. He said the party was essentially too good to be true.

“They flew me to Cannes four or five months after they bought the movie, and they wanted to announce it in Cannes,” Belfort said. “It hadn’t even gone into production yet, and they threw a launch party. They must have spent $3 million on a launch party. They flew in Kanye West, and I said to Anne, this is a fucking scam, anybody who does this has stolen money.‘ You wouldn’t spend money you worked for like that.”

Post-party, Belfort said he noticed other odd spending actions; and he distanced himself, which resulted in him getting shunned.

“They offered me money and everything to go to Vegas. A lot of money. Like $500,000, which I really could’ve used. I was like, I can’t do it. Leo went, Margot [Robbie] went,” Belfort said. “I refused to go. And because of that I’m not mentioned in the articles. I’ve learned my lesson. It’s all Red Granite. They tried to offer me money and give me things, I never even spoke to these guys. I was like, ‘I don’t need these f—ing people.’ I knew it, it was so obvious.”

Red Granite, which is still producing films, denies the Department of Justice’s allegations and any knowledge of “illegitimate” funding.