The Kleptocrats

The Kleptocrats is a 2018 documentary film made by Mike Lerner and directed by Sam Hobkinson and Havana Marking. It tells the story of how more than $3 billion was stolen from Malaysia’s government fund 1MDB. The scandal involved former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, his stepson Riza Aziz, and fugitive businessman Jho Low. The film premiered at the 2018 DOC NYC festival.

Story
The film shows how some of the money was used to buy expensive houses in New York and Los Angeles, a superyacht called The Equanimity, a private jet, and to fund movies like The Wolf of Wall Street. It also mentions Jho Low’s luxury birthday party in Las Vegas.

People in the film
It includes reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Hollywood Reporter, as well as people close to the scandal, like Najib’s brother Nazir Razak, opposition politicians, activists, and a political cartoonist.

Reception
The film has a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes from six reviews. Lawyers for Jho Low tried to remove the film from streaming platforms.

References

Category:Movies about corruption
Category:1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal