Najib's stepson's production firm allegedly received US$9m to produce Wolf of Wall Street

Production company Red Granite Pictures, which is owned by former Malaysian PM Najib Razak' stepson Riza Shahriz, had allegedly received US$9 million as an advance to produce The Wolf of Wall Street. Good Star, a company belonging to fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (commonly known as Jho Low) paid the amount to Red Granite Pictures, according to court proceedings from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial reported by multiple media outlets such as Bernama and The Star.These were revealed in 2011 and 2012 documents presented by lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram during examination-in-chief with former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral, said the news reports. During the interrogation, Shahrol said he is unaware about the transaction and has not seen the documents before. He also denied knowledge of Low being the beneficial owner of Good Star and Riza as the sole director of Red Granite Pictures. However, he said knew from the 1MDB expose that Red Granite Pictures is the producer The Wolf of Wall Street movie and the company was using money that was allegedly siphoned from 1MDB.In August, it was also revealed during the first day of the 1MDB trial that former PM Najib had allegedly to paid digital agency Orb Solutions RM2 million to handle his public image. According to a testimony in court, the agency was formed to serve mainly one client – Najib – and manage his personal online communications and assets. Duties included management of his personal websites, social media accounts and activities that were deemed online-to-offline.[A+M's PR Asia will come to Malaysia this November, gathering together some of the finest minds in industry to explore the exciting and developing world of digital PR. Join us for a series of exclusive case studies, interactive and thought-provoking discussions at PR Asia on 20 November in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Register now.](Photo courtesy: 123rf)Read more: MACC to investigate those who plan to ‘monopolise’ government tenders IPG Mediabrands clarifies events leading up to MACC civil forfeiture suit IPG Mediabrands and GroupM named in MACC forfeiture suit YG Entertainment founder reportedly embroiled in sex scandal involving Jho Low