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The Star

Lawyers for fugitive businessman Jho Low are trying to stop documentary film The Kleptocrats from airing, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The American entertainment news outlet said lawyers working on behalf of Low sent letters to a number of distributors and platforms asking for the documentary to be removed from their catalogues
According to The Hollywood Reporter, London-based law firm Schillings has accused The Kleptocrats of defaming its client by claiming that Low was the central figure in the scandal involving the state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and the theft of billions of dollars.
It added that the law firm also claimed that the documentary infringed copyright laws in the use of video footage and could also potentially prejudice various ongoing legal proceedings.
Malaysian police meet Chinese officials to help track down Jho Low
It also reported that the filmmakers have claimed that the letter was simply “an attempt at intimidation to silence” the documentary.
“Knowing how passionately Schillings believe in the rule of law and justice, I would be surprised if they were not willing to help law enforcement agencies in the United States, Singapore and Malaysia in any way they can, to locate and bring to justice their client, the fugitive Jho Low, so he can answer for his alleged role in one of the largest financial frauds in history, a crime that has deeply affected the lives of so many ordinary Malaysians, struggling to maintain decent living conditions for their families in the face of shameless greed and naked corruption,” producer Mike Lerner of Roast Beef Productions was quoted as saying.

The Kleptocrats is a documentary film on the 1MDB scandal, directed by Sam Hobkinson and Havana Marking.
According to IMDB, an online film and television database, The Kleptocrats features interviews with investigative reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Hollywood Reporter who covered the 1MDB scandal.
The article originally appeared on The Star Online.


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Malaysia 1MDB scandal

Jho Low’s lawyers reportedly blocking 1MDB documentary from airing

The film is accused of defaming Jho Low by portraying him as the central figure in the scandal involving the state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd and the theft of billions of dollars. Photo: Handout

FILE - In this April 14, 2018, file photo, protesters hold portraits of Jho Low illustrated as a pirate during a protest in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The United States Justice Department on Thursday charged the fugitive Malaysian financier in a money laundering and bribery scheme that pilfered billions of dollars from a Malaysian investment fund created to promote economic development projects in that country. The three-count indictment charges Low Taek Jho, who is also known as Jho Low, with misappropriating money from the state-owned fund and using it for bribes and kickbacks to foreign officials, to pay for luxury real estate, art and jewelry in the United States and to fund Hollywood movies, including "The Wolf of Wall Street." (AP Photo/Sadiq Asyraf, File)

1MDB scandal: fugitive financier Jho Low allegedly bought diamonds for his mother using stolen funds. Now the US government is seizing them

Jho Low. Photo: SCMP Pictures

epa07507551 Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak leaves the Kuala Lumpur High Court, Malaysia, 15 April 2019. Najib Razak faces several criminal proceedings over suspected money laundering of 4.5 billion US dollar from state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). EPA-EFE/FAZRY ISMAIL

How Genting bought Jho Low’s superyacht – linked to Malaysian 1MDB scandal – for US$126 million

Equanimity, the superyacht linked to a multibillion-dollar scandal at Malaysia’s state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, which has been sold for US$126 million. Photo: Burgess Yachts

(190313) -- PUTRAJAYA, March 13, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks during a joint press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Putrajaya, Malaysia, March 13, 2019. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung)

FILE - In this April 23, 2015 file photo, Jho Low, Director of the Jynwel Foundation, poses at the launch of the Global Daily website in Washington, D.C. The Justice Department on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018, charged the fugitive Malaysian financier in a money laundering and bribery scheme that pilfered billions of dollars from a Malaysian investment fund created to promote economic development projects in that country. The three-count indictment charges Low Taek Jho, who is also known as Jho Low, with misappropriating money from the state-owned fund and using it for bribes and kickbacks to foreign officials, to pay for luxury real estate, art and jewelry in the United States and to fund Hollywood movies, including "The Wolf of Wall Street." (Photo by Stuart Ramson/Invision for the United Nations Foundation/AP Images)

epa06942470 Men chat in front of the seized luxury yacht Equanimity, docked at Port Klang, Selangor, Malaysia, 11 August 2018. The luxury yacht Equanimity presumedly belongs to Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low. The yacht was seized as part of a multi-billion dollar corruption investigation related to 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). EPA-EFE/FAZRY ISMAIL

epa07129376 (FILE) - The seized luxury yacht Equanimity arrives at Port Klang, Selangor, Malaysia, 07 August 2018 (reissued 29 October 2018). The superyacht Equanimity belonging to Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Lo, is going on auction on 29 October 2018. It was seized as part of a multi-billion dollar corruption investigation related to 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). EPA-EFE/AHMAD YUSNI

Equanimity, the 300-foot (90-metre) luxury yacht worth 250 million USD that belonged to Jho Low, a flamboyant international financier who allegedly played a central role in the 1MDB controversy that has engulfed former prime minister Najib Razak, arrives in Port Klang outside of Kuala Lumpur on August 7, 2018. A luxury yacht allegedly paid for with funds from a multi-billion-dollar scandal that helped topple Malaysia's government arrived outside Kuala Lumpur on August 7, with authorities hoping it will help in their prosecution of the country's disgraced former leader. / AFP PHOTO / STR

1MDB scandal: Malaysia asks Interpol to find Jho Low, financier linked to missing US$4.5 billion

Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, has not been charged with any crime, however US authorities have said they are pursuing a criminal probe into 1MDB-linked transactions

(FILES) This file photo taken on April 11, 2017 shows Australian model Miranda Kerr during a photocall ahead of a diner for the launch of a Louis Vuitton leather goods collection in collaboration with US artist Jeff Koons, at the Louvre in Paris. Australian model Miranda Kerr has turned over $8.1 million worth of jewelry to the US Justice Department following allegations that the items were linked to a massive money-laundering scheme involving a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. Kerr handed over the jewelry -- given to her by Malaysian financier Jho Low -- last June 23, 2017 to federal agents in Los Angeles, a spokesman for the model told AFP. / AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS

1MDB probe: Malaysian financier Jho Low has previously denied any wrongdoing, saying that the US Justice Department’s actions were ‘a further example of global overreach in pursuit of a deeply flawed case’. File photo: Sam Tsang

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Lawyers reportedly claim the film defames its client by portraying Low as the central figure in the scandal involving the Malaysian state fund



Lawyers reportedly claim the film defames its client by portraying Low as the central figure in the scandal involving the Malaysian state fund.


Censorship

Malaysia

Corruption in Asia

Jho Low’s lawyers reportedly blocking 1MDB documentary from airing

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Lawyers reportedly claim the film defames its client by portraying Low as the central figure in the scandal involving the Malaysian state fund

Lawyers reportedly claim the film defames its client by portraying Low as the central figure in the scandal involving the Malaysian state fund