Former financial stockbroker Jordan Belfort, whose biographical movie "Wolf Street" was inspired by his autobiography, filed a lawsuit against the film´s producers, demanding $ 300 million in compensation.
The American star, Leonardo DiCaprio, played Belfort in the film, which was nominated for an Academy Award, and achieved huge public success.
Belfort alleged that the film´s producer, "Red Granite", lied to him about the sources of the funding, when selling the story rights to them.
The company’s lawyer described the Belfort case as “desperate and ridiculous.”
Red Granite´s founding partner, Reza Aziz, was arrested last year on suspicion of involvement in money laundering.
Belfort, 57, claims that Aziz concealed from him "these criminal practices and sources of financing", and that he was "deceived" regarding the true source of the company´s financing.
The Hollywood producer, Reza Aziz, is the son-in-law of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razzaq, who was accused of embezzling $ 700 million (534 million pounds) from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, which funded the film and transferred it to his personal bank account.
The movie, which is considered the most successful American director Martin Scorsese´s movie, was inspired by Belfort´s diary, which includes the story of his rise as a young broker on the New York Stock Exchange in the late eighties, and his subsequent fall into the drug trap and the abuse of women, corruption and fraud.
Belfort, who spent 22 months in prison for crimes portrayed in the 2013 film, is seeking to nullify the sale of labor rights to the producing company, claiming that he would not have made the deal if he had known the true source of the money.
Belfort seeks compensation in the amount of 300 million dollars, which is equivalent to the value of the film´s revenues. However, Red Granite attorney Matthew Schwartz commented on Belfort´s allegations that "Belfort´s case is nothing more than a desperate and ridiculous attempt to evade a deal that made him a rich and well-known man through legal and legal methods, for the first time in his life."
DiCaprio´s personification of Belfort was crowned Golden Globe Award. The film also received five Academy Award nominations.
Abstract: BBC
