WASHINGTON/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has taken legal action to recover an additional half a billion dollars in assets stolen from an investment fund established by Malaysia’s prime minister, bringing the total claims to more than $1.7 billion. 
 
 The assets include a Picasso painting given to actor Leonardo DiCaprio and the rights to two Hollywood films, the department said. 
 
 The filing in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles was the Justice Department’s latest step in a long-running case over an alleged conspiracy to launder money misappropriated from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund, known as 1MDB, which was set up by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009 to promote economic development. 
 
 In the complaints, which are all civil actions, the Justice Department alleged that more than $4.5 billion was taken from 1MDB by high-level fund officials and their associates. 
 
 “We simply will not allow the United States to be a place where corrupt individuals can expect to hide assets and lavishly spend money that should be used for the benefit of citizens of other nations,” Kenneth Blanco, acting assistant attorney general, said in a statement on Thursday. 
 
 1MDB said on Friday that it is not a party to the civil lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and had never been contacted in relation to the case. 
 
 Najib has denied taking money from 1MDB or any other entity for personal gain, after it was reported that investigators traced nearly $700 million to bank accounts that were allegedly in his name. 
 
 In response to the latest lawsuit, a spokesman for Najib said the lawsuits raised concerns about “the unnecessary and gratuitous naming of certain matters and individuals that are only relevant to domestic political manipulation and interference”. 
 
 “This suggests a motivation that goes beyond the objective of seizing assets,” Najib’s press secretary, Tengku Sariffuddin, said in a statement, adding that unproven allegations should not be taken as fact. 
 
 Malaysia attorney general’s office said in an emailed statement that Malaysian authorities had discovered no crime committed by anyone at the fund. 
 
 The latest lawsuit comes as Najib prepares for a elections, which sources say he hopes to call in the second half of the year to cement his position following a purge of dissenters within his party. 
 
 He has dismissed calls from opponents and activists to step down and make way for a full inquiry into the scandal. An investigation by Malaysia’s top attorney found no wrongdoing by Najib. 
 
 DIAMONDS, PAINTINGS AND MOVIES 
 
 U.S. authorities, in civil complaints, have accused Malaysian financier Jho Low of laundering more than $400 million stolen from 1MDB through an account in the United States, where he lavished his associates, including DiCaprio, with money to gamble and luxury goods. 
 
 U.S. authorities have not charged Low with any crime. 
 
 Authorities said that in 2014, Low used $3.2 million diverted from a 1MDB bond sale to buy a Picasso painting for DiCaprio. “Dear Leonardo DiCaprio, Happy belated Birthday! This gift is for you,” a friend of Low’s wrote in a note. 
 
 FILE PHOTO: A construction worker talks on the phone in front of a 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) billboard at the Tun Razak Exchange development in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 3, 2016. REUTERS/Olivia Harris/File Photo 
 
 DiCaprio has not been accused of any crime. 
 
 A spokesman for DiCaprio on Thursday said that the actor had recently begun proceedings to transfer ownership of the Picasso to the U.S. government. 
 
 The spokesman said that DiCaprio in July 2016 had “initiated the return” of gifts he had received from financiers connected to the 1MDB case after authorities made allegations against people involved in financing the 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street,” which starred DiCaprio. 
 
 It is one of three Hollywood films that the Justice Department says were funded with tens of millions of dollars stolen from 1MDB by Jho Low. 
 
 The spokesman said that DiCaprio had accepted the gifts to raise funds in an auction for his environmental foundation. 
 
 The three films were produced by Red Granite, which was founded by Najib’s stepson, Riza Aziz. The other two films are “Dumb and Dumber To,” a 2014 comedy starring Jim Carrey, and the 2015 film “Daddy’s Home” starring Will Ferrell. 
 
 The Justice Department’s filing on Thursday seeks the rights to those films, after moving last year to seize rights to “The Wolf of Wall Street.” 
 
 Red Granite said in a statement it was in discussions with the Justice Department “aimed at resolving these civil cases and is fully cooperating.” 
 
 DiCaprio’s spokesman also said that the actor had returned an Oscar won by actor Marlon Brando that was given to him by Red Granite “to thank him for his work on The Wolf of Wall Street.” 
 
 DiCaprio’s charitable foundation last October said that any gifts or donations made to the actor or his ventures would be returned if they were found to have come from 1MDB. 
 
 The Justice Department filing on Thursday also alleged that Low also used $9.2 million diverted from 1MDB bond sales to buy a collage made by New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat that was also given to DiCaprio. 
 
 DiCaprio and Low signed a note in March 2014 absolving the star of “any liability whatsoever resulting directly or indirectly from these art-work,” according to the filings. 
 
 Low, in an emailed statement sent via a representative, said the Justice Department (DOJ) continued its “inappropriate efforts” to seize assets. 
 
 “This week’s activity from the DOJ is a further example of global overreach in pursuit of a deeply flawed case,” Low said. 
 
 Rasky Partners, a public relations firm that emailed his statement, could not be immediately reached by phone. 
 
 Other purchases with the misappropriated funds included a yacht and jewelry worth $200 million purchased from various companies around the world. Nearly $30 million of those funds was used to buy jewelry for Najib’s wife, according to the U.S. Justice Department filing. 
 
 An aide to the prime minister’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, did not respond to requests for comment. 
 
 Slideshow (2 Images) 
 
 Fraud allegations against 1MDB go back to 2009, the Justice Department said, and the fund is subject to money laundering investigations in at least six countries, including Switzerland and Singapore. ||||| The government asserts that funding for Red Granite films came from stolen Malaysian funds and that DiCaprio was gifted artwork purchased with embezzled money. The actor has already turned over a Marlon Brando Oscar. 
 
 The U.S. government is expanding its civil forfeiture case tied to assets allegedly diverted by high-level officials in Malaysia. On Thursday, the feds filed a new complaint aimed at seizing rights to the Red Granite Pictures-produced films Dumb and Dumber To and Daddy's Home. The government is asserting that tens of millions of dollars used to produce these films are traceable to foreign corruption. Additionally, the feds are eyeing gifts given to a couple of celebrities, including high-priced paintings once enjoyed by Leonardo DiCaprio, now possibly in the government's possession. 
 
 Last year, a similar complaint was made in California federal court with respect to The Wolf of Wall Street, the Oscar-nominated film directed by Martin Scorsese. The film was allegedly financed with assets from a fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), then diverted into shell companies. Some of the money is said to have gone to Red Granite, run by CEO Riza Aziz, the stepson of Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak. Of $4.5 billion allegedly misappropriated, a portion went "to fund the co-conspirators' lavish lifestyles, including purchases of artwork and jewelry, the acquisition of luxury real estate and luxury yachts, the payment of gambling expenses, and the hiring of musicians and celebrities to attend parties." 
 
 In May, federal prosecutors told a California federal judge that the U.S. government was "actively discussing a potential settlement" with Red Granite Pictures. On Wednesday, court papers in the Wolf of Wall Street case were filed under seal. 
 
 Now come new forfeiture actions. 
 
 According to one complaint, a shell company called Aabar-BVI, incorporated in Abu Dhabi, maintained approximately $1.367 billion from the 1MDB fund. In 2012, Aabar-BVI sent three wires totaling $238 million to Aziz's Red Granite bank account in Singapore. The feds next assert that dozens of transfers totaling more than $50 million were made to two accounts for Dumb and Dumber To maintained by Red Granite. Later, about $30 million in "funds traceable to diverted 1MDB proceeds" went to accounts for Daddy's Home. Some additional money is said to have come from a $50 million loan from Morgan Stanley that was secured with distribution proceeds from Wolf of Wall Street. 
 
 The feds are also eyeing other assets, including a rare movie poster of Metropolis purchased by Aziz for $1.2 million in October 2012 that was described as hanging in Red Granite's office. According to a source connected with Red Granite, the poster has already been turned over to authorities. 
 
 The government also wants artwork gifted to DiCaprio, including a Picasso painting purchased for $3.28 million, a photograph by Diane Arbus purchased for $750,000 and a Jean-Michel Basquiat collage purchased for $9,191,040. The latter two works are alleged to have been given to the actor by Jho Low, a Malaysian financier and close associate of Aziz. As for the Picasso painting, it allegedly came from Eric Tan, an associate of Low, accompanied by a handwritten note that read, "Dear Leonardo DiCaprio, Happy belated Birthday! This gift is for you." 
 
 The Hollywood Reporter has also learned that DiCaprio has voluntarily surrendered to the government an Oscar awarded to Marlon Brando. He also has turned over the art referenced above, although an application for an arrest warrant for the property has been concurrently filed. The actor, however, has no plans at the moment to turn over the substantial sum of money he received for performing in Wolf of Wall Street. (Some analysis on that topic is here.) 
 
 Also wanted for the government's collection of seized assets is jewelry purchased by Low, including a 11.72-carat heart-shaped diamond allegedly gifted to Miranda Kerr, a prominent Australian model who was once married to Orlando Bloom and is now married to Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel. 
 
 In a statement, a spokesperson for Red Granite comments, "As we have previously disclosed, Red Granite is actively engaged in discussions with the Justice Department aimed at resolving these civil cases and is fully cooperating. In the meantime, Red Granite remains an active production company, moving ahead to complete postproduction work on its next feature film while developing exciting new projects." 
 
 Adds DiCaprio's spokesperson: "Last July, upon hearing of the government's civil action against certain parties involved in the making of The Wolf of Wall Street, Mr. DiCaprio's representatives — working under his instruction — initiated contact with the Department of Justice. This effort was to determine if there were any gifts or charitable donations originating from the parties named in the civil complaint, and to offer the return of any such gifts or donations with the aid and instruction of the government. Prior to the government's filing of the civil pleading today, Mr. DiCaprio initiated return of these items, which were received and accepted by him for the purpose of being included in an annual charity auction to benefit his eponymous foundation. He has also returned an Oscar originally won by Marlon Brando, which was given to Mr. DiCaprio as a set gift by Red Granite to thank him for his work on The Wolf of Wall Street. Mr. DiCaprio is grateful for the support of the government in this effort and continues to hope that justice is done in this matter."
– The feds are in the midst of a complex money-laundering investigation tied to Malaysian financiers, but it's got some easy-to-understand ramifications: Leonardo DiCaprio has to return a Picasso and an old Oscar that once belonged to Marlon Brando. As Reuters reports, DiCaprio himself is not charged with any wrongdoing, but he received those items as gifts from people who are. Another unusual Hollywood-esque twist related to the inquiry: The US is trying to seize the rights to the movies Dumb and Dumber To, starring Jim Carrey, and Daddy's Home, starring Will Ferrell, per the Hollywood Reporter. The Justice Department alleges the movies were partially funded with shady money. Last year, they similarly began action to seize the rights of the Wolf of Wall Street, starring DiCaprio, for the same reason. All of this stems from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund, or 1MDB, set up in 2009 by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to stimulate economic development in his country. The Justice Department says fund officials pilfered more than $4.5 billion from it and essentially tried to launder the money in the US through various enterprises, one of which was funding movies. They also lavished gifts on celebrities, which the feds are now trying to recover. The gifts include the $3.28 million Picasso, a $9 million Jean-Michel Basquiat painting, and a $750,000 Diane Arbus photo, all given to DiCaprio; and an 11.72-carat diamond allegedly given to model Miranda Kerr, the wife of Snapchat's Evan Spiegel.