Leonardo DiCaprio is being asked to give up his role as UN Messenger of Peace with a special focus on climate change.
A Swiss rainforest charity is pressuring the environmentalist-actor to either denouce his ties to Malaysians involved in a multibillion-dollar scandal and return the money he allegely received or resign from his UN post.
Lukas Straumann, director of Switzerland-based rainforest charity, the Bruno Master Funds said, "If DiCaprio is unwilling to come clean, we ask him to step down as UN Messenger for Peace for climate change, because he simply lacks the credibility for such an important role," as published on Hollywood Reporter.
The site added, the 1MDB scandal is an ongoing embezzlement case against the Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak, who founded and chaired the fund called '1 Malaysia Development Berhad', which the corrupt people treated as 'personal bank account', U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said.
The stolen Malaysian money were allegedly transferred from the 1MDB fund to Red Granite Productions, who produced DiCaprio's movie "The Wolf of Wall Street" in 2013, which is co-founded by Riza Aziz, the stepson of the Malaysian prime minister. The actor's Leonardo DiCaprio foundation also allegedly received millions of dollars for his charity from Jho Low, the controversial Malaysian businessman, whose in the middle of the scandal.
According to CNN, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit in July to seize the assets that passed through American banks to give it back to the Malaysian people. Among the assets allegedly seized were profits from "The Wolf of Wall Street" movie.
During 'Recovery of Stolen Malaysian Assets' press conferece, 1MDB corruption scandal was directly linked with major environmental issues in Malaysia, such as deforestation, which is one of the main causes of DiCaprio's foundation, Hollywood Reporter detailed.
In addition, "We can't save the environment if we fail to stop corruption," said Straumann. He also called DiCaprio's criticism of deforestation in parts of Borneo, 'cynical hypocrisy'.
"He needs to become part of the solution," he added. "But today he is part of the problem."
DiCaprio's documentary about global warming "Before the Flood" debuts in U.K., yet comment has been released by DiCarpio about his involvement.
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