Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Pressure Mounts on DiCaprio to Return ‘Ill-Gotten’ Foundation Donations




Pressure Mounts on DiCaprio to Return ‘Ill-Gotten’ Foundation Donations
by Daniel Nussbaum 12 Sep 2016
As Hollywood A-lister Leonardo DiCaprio unveiled his climate change documentary at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday, the actor faced increased calls from activists to return donations given to his environmental-focused Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation that have been linked in news reports to funds allegedly misappropriated in the world’s largest embezzlement scheme.

An August exposé in the Hollywood Reporter alleged that some donations to DiCaprio’s foundation came directly from funds siphoned from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB — itself the subject of an international embezzlement investigation — that had been earmarked for development in the Southeast Asian country.

According to a Department of Justice complaint, funds misappropriated from 1MDB were alleged to have been used to purchase lavish gifts that were then auctioned off by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation during its annual environmental gala in St. Tropez, France. The DOJ complaint further alleged that Red Granite Pictures — a production company co-founded by the Prime Minister of Malaysia’s stepson, Riza Aziz — used $238 million of 1MDB money to fund production on the 2013 Martin Scorsese-directed film The Wolf of Wall Street, for which DiCaprio won a Golden Globe.

On Saturday — as DiCaprio premiered his climate change documentary Before the Flood at TIFF — Peter Kallang, of environmental advocacy organization Save Rivers, called on the actor to return any questionable donations his foundation may have received from billionaire businessman Jho Low and Aziz, two of the central figures in the 1MDB investigation.

“In keeping the ill-gotten money, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation is acting in complete contradiction to its mission statement, which is to be ‘dedicated to the long-term health and wellbeing of all Earth’s inhabitants… while restoring balance to threatened ecosystems and communities,” Kallang said in a statement, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

“The money should thus be returned to the people of Malaysia to stop the massive destruction to the environment and ecosystem from land developments and pollution,” Kallang added.

On Monday, Malaysian attorney and human rights advocate Ambiga Sreenevasan penned an open letter to DiCaprio similarly urging the actor to return the questionable donations.

“Imagine our shock — and embarrassment — to learn that a man whom we admire and respect is connected with the heist of the decade that has undermined the [Malaysian] people in so many ways,” Sreenevasan wrote, according to THR. “We know that apart from being a wonderful actor, you are deeply concerned about humanitarian and social issues. How then can you remain silent in the face of this travesty?”

The attorney also challenged DiCaprio to travel to Malaysia to see “how massive corruption has destroyed so much in our country.”

In August, Swiss-based environmental advocacy organization Bruno Manser Funds became the first organization to publicly request DiCaprio return what its executive director Lukas Straumann called “dirty money.”

“Money was stolen from the treasury and went straight into Leo’s pocket,” Straumann told the Hollywood Reporter last month. “That is dirty money, and he should pay it back.”

DiCaprio’s Before the Flood follows the actor as he travels the world to examine the effects of global warming firsthand, meeting with dignitaries including President Obama, John Kerry and Pope Francis along the way.

“We are truly at a turning point in history,” DiCaprio told the Associated Press at the film’s premiere, calling climate change “the largest crisis we’ve ever faced.”

Hollywood Reporter
Lynne Segall was an associate publisher for the Hollywood Reporter, and a VP for the Los Angeles Times.

Note: Rosa Brooks was a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, and special counsel to the president for the Open Society Foundations.
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Moises Naim is a global board member for the Open Society Foundations, and was a board member for the International Crisis Group.
Maria Livanos Cattaui is a global board member for the Open Society Foundations, and a board member for the International Crisis Group.
George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a board member for the International Crisis Group, and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Climate Reality Project.
Natural Resources Defense Council is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership.
Leonardo DiCaprio is a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Anwar Ibrahim was a board member for the International Crisis Group, and a deputy prime minister for Malaysia.
Lawrence H. Summers is a board member for the International Crisis Group, was the National Economic Council chairman for the Barack Obama administration, a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Thomas R. Pickering is a co-chair for the International Crisis Group, and a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Cameron F. Kerry is a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and John F. Kerry’s brother.
Teresa Heinz Kerry is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and married to John F. Kerry.
John F. Kerry is Cameron F. Kerry’s brother, married to Teresa Heinz Kerry, the secretary at the U.S. Department of State for the Barack Obama administration, and a friend of J. Robert Kerrey.
J. Robert Kerrey is a friend of John F. Kerry, and was a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Leonardo DiCaprio is a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Natural Resources Defense Council is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership.
James Gustave Speth is an honorary trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council, and a director at the Climate Reality Project.
Albert A. Gore Jr. is the chairman for the Climate Reality Project, and a narrator-host for An Inconvenient Truth.
An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate made in the film, he has given more than a thousand times.
Premiering at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and opening in New York City and Los Angeles on May 24, 2006, the documentary was a critical and box-office success, winning two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature and Best Original Song.[4] The film grossed $24 million in the U.S. and $26 million in the foreign box office, becoming the tenth highest grossing documentary film to date in the United States.[5]
The idea to document his efforts came from producer Laurie David who saw his presentation at a town-hall meeting on global warming which coincided with the opening of The Day After Tomorrow. Laurie David was so inspired by Gore's slide show that she, with producer Lawrence Bender, met with Guggenheim to adapt the presentation into a film.
Since the film's release, An Inconvenient Truth has been credited for raising international public awareness of global warming and reenergizing the environmental movement. The documentary has also been included in science curricula in schools around the world, which has spurred some controversy.
Laurie P. David is the producer for An Inconvenient Truth, and a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Leonardo DiCaprio is a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Robert Redford is a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the founder & president of the Sundance Institute.
Sundance Institute is the sponsor for the Sundance Film Festival.
Barbra Streisand Foundation was a funder for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Barbra Streisand is the founder of the Barbra Streisand Foundation, and dated Pierre Trudeau.
Pierre Trudeau dated Barbra Streisand, was the prime minister for Canada, and his son is Justin Trudeau.
Justin Trudeau is Pierre Trudeau’s son, the prime minister-elect for Canada, and a member of the Canada House of Commons.
David Crombie was the minister of health & secretary of state for Canada, a member of the Canada House of Commons, and the Toronto (ON) mayor.
Sidley Austin LLP was a consulting firm for Canada.
Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.  
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Francis E. George was a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a cardinal at the Roman Catholic Church.
Pope Francis I is the pope for the Roman Catholic Church.
Donald W. Wuerl was a cardinal at the Roman Catholic Church, and was the deacon at Teresa Heinz Kerry’s wedding to John Heinz III.
Teresa Heinz Kerry was married to John Heinz III, is married to John F. Kerry, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Cameron F. Kerry is a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and John F. Kerry’s brother.
John F. Kerry is married to Teresa Heinz Kerry, Cameron F. Kerry’s brother, the secretary at the U.S. Department of State for the Barack Obama administration, and a friend of J. Robert Kerrey.
J. Robert Kerrey is a friend of John F. Kerry, and was a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Leonardo DiCaprio is a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Natural Resources Defense Council is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership.

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