Several cabinet ministers' move to discredit the US Department of Justice's (DOJ) case involving 1MDB shows that even Hollywood actors take the matter more seriously, says a PKR lawmaker

Hutan Melintang assemblyperson S Kesavan said this is because actor Leonardo DiCaprio surrendered the multi-million dollar gifts he purportedly received from 1MDB-linked individuals after they were listed in the lawsuit by the DOJ.

Last Thursday, the DOJ filed another civil suit to seize more 1MDB-linked assets allegedly bought by Penang-born Jho Low, his associates and prime minister's stepson Riza Aziz.

They include Marlon Brando's Oscar statuette, Diane Arbus' picture "Boy With Toy Hand Grenade" and paintings by Pablo Picasso and Jean-Michel Basquiat, which were all gifted to DiCaprio.

DiCaprio, who starred in the film "The Wolf of Wall Street", allegedly produced by Riza's production house Red Granite using money stolen from 1MDB, surrendered the statuette and paintings following the DOJ action.

"DiCaprio's actions are commendable and shows does want to be involved in money laundering and the 1MDB case.

"He also said he will co-operate with the investigators and return any other gifts bought using questionable means.

"In contrast in Malaysia, it is as if no one is involved or knows what is going on even though 1MDB is a Malaysian firm, the funds came from Malaysia and the individuals under probe are Malaysian," he said in a statement.

Yesterday, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan challenged the DOJ to press criminal charges and reveal the complainants.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak said the DOJ's latest filing was tantamount to foreign intervention into a domestic matter, as the lawsuit contained matters irrelevant to the alleged crime.

Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali, in response to a second filing by the DOJ, hit out at alleged "insinuations" that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak committed criminal wrongdoing when he is not even named in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit refers to one "Malaysian Official 1", who Abdul Rahman last year identified as Najib.