New Beverly Hills attraction - 'Riza Villa'

 

Whistleblower website Sarawak Report has claimed that Rosmah Mansor’s son, Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz, is the owner of a second luxury property.

This is an 11,500 sq ft mansion overlooking West Hollywood, sold to him for US$17.5 million (RM58.21 million) in September 2010.

The area is popular with star-gazing tourists in tour buses because of its high density of celebrity residents.

Sarawak Report said it visited the site to find that the original mansion has been demolished and that a new one is being built, complete with what looks to be a "very large" swimming pool being dug in the front yard.

"Reliable insiders have confirmed that the rebuilding will cost several million more dollars than the original asking price, bringing the cost of the property up towards the sort of price that Riza (far left) recently paid for the US$33.5 million property that we revealed he had bought in New York in 2012.

The report states that the mansion is registered to a company named 912 North Hillcrest Road (BH) LLC in Delaware.

"However, the company which performs a private business and wealth management role for Mr Aziz - Nigro Karlin Segal Feldstein & Boino - confirmed the property is his," it reads.

Sarawak Report said Riza is currently staying in the penthouse of one of Hollywood's priciest apartment blocks.

"We visited the brand new, plush building, which advertises itself as Hollywood’s most sought- after address,” reads the report.

"The apartments come with full concierge service and expensive cars are lined up by the valet service outside.”

Source of funds

Sarawak Report had earlier questioned how Riza, who had a six-year stint as a banker in London before embarking in a movie-making career, could afford such luxuries and fund expensive movies.

Riza and his partner Joey McFarland had formed Red Granite Pictures which has produced the blockbuster ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’. However, it is banned in Malaysia due to its portrayal of drug use and sex.

Red Granite's lawyers have threatened to take legal action against Sarawak Report for allegedly insinuating that the film was funded through dubious means.

In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, Aziz said he had taken a break from banking in 2008 and travelled the world before becoming involved in showbiz.

He also said he has invested money in Red Granite and that he is backed by a group of investors "mainly from the Middle East and Asia".