Transparency International is lobbying Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio to make use of his star power to put pressure on Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak over the 1MDB scandal.

TI's regional coordinator for Asia Pacific Samantha Grant said DiCaprio could do this by signing the organisation's Declaration Against Corruption in which he would assert that he would not seek bribes and campaign against corruption as well as report abuses.

"We live in a very interesting world, so by Leonardo DiCaprio saying publicly that this is not okay, he’s actually probably putting more pressure on prime minister Najib, than maybe even the Department of Justice (DOJ) can."