After being charged in multimillion-dollar political conspiracies spanning two presidencies, and a trial that included testimony ranging from actor Leonardo DiCaprio to former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Fugees rapper Pras has been convicted.
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Prakazrel “Pras” Michel was accused of funneling money from a now-fugitive Malaysian financier, Jho Low, through straw donors to Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. Also, then trying to impede an investigation into Low's money laundering scam and influence an extradition case of billionaire Guo Wengui on China's behalf under the Trump administration.
The defense argued the rapper, best known from the iconic 1990s Hip-Hop group the Fugees, simply wanted to make money and got bad legal advice as he reinvented himself in the world of politics.
Michel first met Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho in 2006, when the businessman usually known as Jho Low was dropping huge sums of money and socially mingling with the likes of Paris Hilton. Michel ended up helping open some doors for Low, which led to him providing financing for Hollywood films including The Wolf of Wall Street, which is how Leo got dragged into the trial.
DiCaprio testified that Low had appeared to him as a legitimate businessman and had mentioned being interested in donating to the Obama 2012 campaign. However, as it seems, Low was most interested in getting a photo with the then-incumbent president.
Testifying on his own behalf, Michel said Low wanted a picture with Obama in 2012 and was willing to pay millions of dollars to get it. "Basically asked for $1 million to begin to think about how" he would get Low his coveted Obama picture. That price eventually soared to $20 million. Michel agreed to help and then used some of the money he got to pay for friends to attend fundraising events. No one had ever told him that was illegal, he said.
As it turns out the funds Low intended to use as payment was just a portion of a rather large sum stolen from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, and by large sum we mean $4.5 billion.
Michel maintains his innocence, insisting he never made any political donations on Low's behalf, nor was he aware of or a part of covering up a money laundering scheme. Additionally pointing out that he voluntarily met with the FBI to discuss Guo and three American hostages in China.
"I took it upon myself to report because I thought the FBI should know," Michael insisted.
And while former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who also testified in this trial, said Michel's futile efforts at diplomatic legalese didn't seem improper, Pras has nevertheless been found guilty of conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.
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