MOVE ASIDE MICHELLE YEOH: DOCUMENTARY ‘THE KLEPTOCRATS’ FEATURING NAJIB’S ARREST, THE QUESTIONING OF STEPSON RIZA AZIZ OVER 1MDB THEFTS, FUNDING OF MOVIES TO GET WORLD PREMIERE NEXT MONTH

UK sales outfit Dogwoof has picked up world sales rights to doc The Kleptocrats about the scandal surrounding the Malaysian wealth fund 1MDB, whose embezzlement sparked a major international corruption investigation and was linked by U.S. authorities to the funding of Red Granite movies including The Wolf Of Wall Street.

Directed by Sam Hobkinson (The Vatican: Saints) and Havana Marking (Afghan Star) and written by investigative journalist Louise Story with Hobkinson and Marking, the film will gets its world premiere next month at Doc NYC. Dogwoof will be selling at MIP and AFM. Mike Lerner (Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer) produces for Roast Beef Productions, executive producers are philanthropist Alex Soros, Louise Story, Mike Lerner and Anna Godas for Dogwoof.

Pic will chart the ongoing, major white-collar crime investigation which has uncovered government corruption at the highest level in Malaysia and pointed towards international money laundering. The film will follow how money was embezzled from the $3.5B Malaysian wealth fund known as 1MDB and how it flowed into New York and Hollywood before the U.S. Department of Justice and Malaysian authorities stepped in. The investigation led to the arrest of Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak and the questioning of his stepson Riza Aziz, the CEO of Red Granite, which forfeited $60M to U.S. authorities earlier this year as part of the probe.

“For the film-makers and journalists involved this story represents many years of hard, passionate, and in some cases dangerous work. While being a damning indictment of greed, we hope it will also be a compelling and thrilling insight into the uncovering of a financial scandal of global proportions,” said Hobkinson.

“We were blown away by the determined investigative work of journalists from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and others to unravel this global scandal. It’s a prime example of how quality journalism can empower people to fight back against greed and corruption,” added Anna Godas, CEO, Dogwoof.

– https://deadline.com/