
Leonardo DiCaprio says Malaysian financier Joe Low plans to donate to Obama’s 2012 campaign.
The financier, who reportedly paid Hollywood celebrities to party with him, supported DiCaprio’s charitable foundation and funded the Oscar-nominated 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, starring DiCaprio.
In 2018, the Department of Justice reached a civil settlement with the filmmaker that forfeited $60 million allegedly stolen from 1MDB.
Since then, DiCaprio has been working with the US government.
He was able to enter and exit the courthouse on Monday without being noticed by news crews monitoring his arrival.
Prosecutors allege that Michelle agreed to use Lowe’s money to fund Obama’s 2012 campaign and hide the source of the money. Federal election laws prohibit foreign nationals from contributing to U.S. campaigns.
He later said he worked behind the scenes with others to convince the Trump administration to drop its investigation into Lowe, and acted as a foreign agent in China to convince the administration to agree to the extradition of dissident Guo Wengui.
DiCaprio told jurors Monday that he had known Michelle since at least the 1990s when he met the Fugees backstage.
Much of his testimony centered around his relationship with Lowe, who threw lavish parties on boats and nightclubs featuring Hollywood stars.
DiCaprio said Lowe’s goal was to celebrate New Year’s Eve twice in one night with a large group on New Year’s Eve, riding Lowe’s private jet between Australia and Las Vegas.
When Michel’s lawyer asked if Low had met his goals, he drew laughter from the courtroom.
“It depends on how you view it.” said DiCaprio.
DiCaprio said that when he first met Low around 2010, he saw him as “kind of a prodigy in the business world.”
DiCaprio said three separate due diligence investigations were conducted by his legal team, an outside firm, and the studio before signing a deal with Low to fund The Wolf of Wall Street.
“I got approval from our team as well as the studio to accept funding for Mr Low,” he said.