The Wolf of Wall Street came out in 2013. Leonardo DiCaprio played a fraudster.
At the end of the film, the credits thank a Malaysian financier named Jho Low.
According to the US Justice Department, the film was paid for with money taken from the people of Malaysia.
1MDB was a state investment fund, created in 2009 by Prime Minister Najib Razak to attract foreign investment. Between 2009 and 2015, the Justice Department says, more than $4.5 billion was diverted out of it.
Low held no formal position at the fund. He did not need one. He had access to the Prime Minister.
The fund raised money by selling bonds. According to US court filings, close to $1.4 billion vanished from the 2012 offerings. More than $1.2 billion vanished after the 2013 one.
The money moved through shell companies and offshore accounts. Then it came back as objects.
A hotel in Beverly Hills. A stake in a hotel on Central Park. A 300-foot superyacht called Equanimity. Paintings by Monet and Van Gogh. A Picasso and a Basquiat, given to DiCaprio as gifts. A Hollywood film.
Najib was convicted in 2020. A Goldman Sachs banker went to prison. Goldman paid more than $2.9 billion to US authorities.
Low was charged in the United States and in Malaysia in 2018. He has never appeared in court.
In 2019, he settled with the Justice Department and gave up $700 million in assets. The largest civil forfeiture in the department’s history. No admission of guilt.
His whereabouts are unknown. Malaysian officials believe he is in China. China denies it.
In 2026, a pardon request was filed in his name. The Justice Department’s own clemency database lists it as pending.
Malaysia, meanwhile, is still paying. By June 2026, the government had spent 42.5 billion ringgit covering 1MDB’s debts and costs.
The man in the credits has asked to be forgiven. The people who paid for the film were never asked anything.
That is not a conspiracy theory. That is the clemency docket.
A quick note. This is the first Sunday edition of The Dark Money Letter. From now on, you get two emails a week. Wednesday stays exactly as it is: one deep dive into one institution. Sunday is new: one person, one story, shorter. It is an experiment, so tell me what you think. Hit reply. I read every answer.
Jho Low invented nothing. Shell companies, offshore accounts, banks that do not ask, borders that do not extradite. Every part of his machine existed before him. All of it still works. The book maps the whole system. Dark Money: How Wealth, Power, and Intelligence Really Work.
Sources
US Department of Justice, 1MDB civil forfeiture complaints, 2016 to 2017
US Department of Justice, settlement with Low Taek Jho, October 2019
Kuala Lumpur High Court, verdict against Najib Razak, July 2020
US Department of Justice, Office of the Pardon Attorney, clemency case search, case P338142
Malaysian Ministry of Finance, statement to Parliament, July 2026