The 1MDB Party’s Over for Swizz Beatz

Welcome to Whale Hunting, a weekly newsletter and podcast delving into the hidden worlds of wealth and power from the team at Project Brazen. The final episode of The Illuminator: Art, Conspiracy and Madness, our new podcast about an artist who exposed corruption and scandal, drops on Monday – if you haven’t listened already, you can find the first five episodes at brazen.fm/illuminator.

For years, Jho Low, the Malaysian who stole billions from the 1MDB fund, lavished gifts on his famous friends: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kim Kardashian, and Paris Hilton. Now, the Malaysian state is trying to claw back millions of dollars from one of Jho Low’s lesser-known celebrity pals.

Swizz Beatz, 46, is considered one of the world’s top rap producers and has worked with Kanye West, Drake, Beyonce, and Busta Rhymes. He’s also known as the husband of Alicia Keys. But it’s his yearslong lucrative friendship with Jho Low that’s put him in the crosshairs of Malaysia.

Liquidators acting for 1MDB claim in a U.S. civil lawsuit that Jho Low used stolen funds to pay Swizz Beatz, whose real name is Kaseem Dean, more than $7 million over several years. The suit claims “unjust enrichment” from “fraudulent transfers” and seeks the repayment of the cash.

Why would Low do this, you might ask? After stealing over $5 billion from a poor Asian nation, Low was creating a myth that he came from inherited money and was building a Hollywood and music empire.

From the shadows, he funneled millions to a Hollywood film company that financed The Wolf of Wall Street. He gave a Picasso to DiCaprio, who starred in the film, as well as paying for his gambling expenses in Vegas.

Swizz’s role was to help Jho Low enter into the music industry. For instance, Low paid him and Alicia Keys $4 million as part of a deal to launch the U.S. career of Taiwanese singer Elva Hsiao, whom Low was dating.

Eventually, Low used stolen funds to acquire a stake in EMI Music Publishing, of which he became the chairman in Asia.

DiCaprio and many other celebrities, including Miranda Kerr, the Australian supermodel and another former girlfriend of Low, voluntarily turned gifts over to the U.S. Justice Department after Low was indicted and went on the run in 2016. 

But Swizz Beatz is fighting Malaysia’s efforts to get money back — unsurprising for a man whose most well-known song is titled “Money in the Bank.” In a response this week to the lawsuit, his lawyers say their client had only a passing acquaintance with Jho Low. They are seeking for the judge to throw out the claim of fraud.