Leonardo DiCaprio Surrenders Oscar Trophy to the Government

An Oscar trophy that used to be in the hands of Leonardo DiCaprio is now in the hands of the government, but not the one he won for his work in The Revenant.

The 42-year-old actor was in possession of the Oscar that Marlon Brando won for his work in the 1954 movie On the Waterfront. Leo received the trophy from The Wolf of Wall Street production company Red Granite Pictures as a gift for his 38th birthday.

It was discovered that the money used to fund films under the Red Granite label has allegedly came from stolen Malaysian funds. Also, money used to purchase some of the artwork the company gave to Leo as gifts was allegedly from stolen funds.

Leo voluntarily agreed to surrender the Oscar and artwork to the government amid the investigation.

Click inside to read a statement from Leo’s reps…

“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,” Leo‘s rep told Deadline in a statement.

“Prior to the government’s filing of the civil pleading… 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,” the rep added. “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.”