Red Granite Pictures, the production company behind last year’s critically-acclaimed Martin Scorsese film The Wolf of Wall Street, whose CEO is Riza Aziz (pictured far right), stepson of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, is being sued for a number of reasons, including racketeering.
The USD100 mission suit was brought forward in a Los Angeles courtroom by Brad Kevoy and Steve Stabler, producers of the hit 1994 comedy Dumb and Dumber, due to their exclusion from being involved in the development of its sequel, Dumb and Dumber To, produced by Red Granite. The suit names Red Granite and its principals, Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland, as defendants.
Kevoy and Stabler’s original lawsuit has been amended to include a claim that Red Granite have committed racketeering in the process of funding its movie projects.
According to the amended complaint, “Red Granite is funded with monies that include proceeds from offenses against a foreign nation that involve bribery of public officials, or misappropriation, theft, or embezzlement of public funds by a public official.”
Krevoy and Stabler go on to say that Riza and McFarland have “engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity, in that they have engaged in multiple financial transactions within the United States — including financing of The Wolf of Wall Street and then separately financingDumb and Dumber To … with knowledge that the transactions were designed to conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of the proceeds of the illegal activity.”
In the run-up to this year’s Academy Awards, Riza Aziz’s name was pulled from The Wolf of Wall Street‘s nomination for Best Picture, even though his company had fully financed the project. No full explanation was given as to why this happened.
In a response statement to The Hollywood Reporter, a Red Granite representative said, “These false, malicious and baseless allegations are demonstrably untrue, and Red Granite looks forward to the prompt dismissal of these claims. Not surprisingly, given they have no facts to back up their accusations Messrs. Krevoy and Stabler resorted to rank speculation and innuendo. There is simply nothing to these naked allegations.”
Bitter irony: The World of Wall Street, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill, is based on the real-life exploits of Jordan Belfort, and the rise and fall of his shady stock investment firm buttressed by layers of corruption, money laundering, and rampant drug abuse. It would be a shame if real life imitated art … imitating real life.
Story: The Hollywood Reporter
