Leonardo DiCaprio surrendered an Oscar statue originally won by Marlon Brando to the government — because it was given to him by an allegedly dirty movie production company now in the feds’ crosshairs, according to reports.
And the Department of Justice has bigger targets than the statuette for “On the Waterfront” — it is now looking to seize the rights to films “Dumb and Dumber To” and “Daddy’s Home” and a trove of valuable art and movie memorabilia belonging to Red Granite Pictures, Deadline reports.
The feds filed paperwork today outlining how money allegedly stolen by corrupt Malaysian officials was funneled through the firm and used to finance films — along with a laundry list of big-ticket items they’re looking to recover — including an original poster for the Fritz Lang film “Metropolis” worth at $1.3M, the site reports.
The department already filed a civil suit last year demanding all profits from the 2013 DiCaprio-starring “The Wolf of Wall Street,” claiming it was financed with the ill-gotten money.
Red Granite gave Leo the Oscar as a thank-you for his work on the film. He voluntarily handed the statue over prior to the latest filing — which doesn’t mention the prize — but the government is still after other gifts including a Picasso painting worth $3.28 million, a Diane Arbus photograph worth $750,000 and a $9,191,040 Jean-Michel Basquiat collage, according to the Hollywood Reporter.