the fugees

The case against a Fugees rapper accused in multimillion-dollar political conspiracies across two presidencies wound down with closing arguments Thursday (April 20) that capped off a trial that included testimony from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Prakazrel “Pras” Michel is accused of funneling money from a now-fugitive Malaysian financer through straw donors to Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, then trying to squelch a Justice Department investigation and influence an extradition case on behalf of China under the Trump administration.

“He willingly broke the law to line his pockets and generate access and influence at the highest reaches of government,” prosecutor Sean Mulryne said. “He wanted money. Lots of it. And he got it.”

The defense argued the Grammy-winning rapper from the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees simply got bad advice as he reinvented himself in the world of politics.

“Mr. Michel is a proud American [and] entrepreneur,” said defense attorney David Kenner. “Mr. Michel was simply being himself – a connector. He saw an opportunity to make easy money for himself, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

The case is expected to go to a jury on Monday.

When Michel first met Low Taek Jho in 2006, the businessman usually known as Jho Low was dropping huge sums of money and hobnobbing with the likes of Paris Hilton. He helped finance Hollywood films, including The Wolf of Wall Street. DiCaprio testified Low had appeared to him as a legitimate businessman and had mentioned wanting to donate to Obama’s campaign.

Michel also testified in his own defense. He said Low wanted a picture with Obama in 2012 and was willing to pay millions of dollars to get it. Michel agreed to help and 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.

Prosecutors said he was donating the money on Low’s behalf and later tried to lean on the straw donors with texts from burner phones to keep them from talking to prosecutors.

After the election of Donald Trump, prosecutors say Michel again took millions to halt an investigation into allegations Low masterminded a money-laundering and bribery scheme that pilfered billions from the Malaysian state investment fund known as 1MDB. Low is now an international fugitive and has maintained his innocence.

Prosecutors said Michel also tried to convince the U.S. to extradite back to China a government critic suspected of crimes there.

“This case is about foreign influence, it’s about foreign money, and it’s about greed,” Mulryne said.

The defense also pointed to testimony from Sessions, who was Trump’s top law enforcement officer until he resigned in 2018. He said he’d been aware the Chinese government wanted the extradition but didn’t know Michel. The rapper’s ultimately futile efforts to arrange a meeting on the topic didn’t seem improper, said Sessions

“What happened in 2017 was not willful and it was not deliberate,” Kenner said.

Movie star Leonardo DiCaprio testified in federal court Monday morning (April 3) as part of a trial involving international money laundering, bribery and a prominent rap artist.
Prakazrel “Pras” Michel — a founding member of the iconic 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees — is accused of funneling money from a fugitive Malaysian financer through straw donors to Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Five years later, prosecutors say he tried to squelch an investigation into that same financer under former President Donald Trump’s administration.

At the heart of the case is Low Taek Jho, usually known as Jho Low. He is accused of masterminding an international money laundering and bribery scheme that stole billions from the Malaysian state investment fund known as 1MDB.

DiCaprio’s connection with the case comes from his yearslong relationship with Low, who was one of the primary financers of the movie The Wolf of Wall Street. Low is currently a fugitive but has maintained his innocence.

According to the charges, Michel essentially became a conduit for Low’s pilfered millions and his attempts to influence the U.S. government. Prosecutors allege that from June to November 2012, Low directed more than $21.6 million to be moved from foreign entities to Michel’s accounts in order to funnel money into the 2012 presidential election. They say Michel then paid about 20 straw donors and conduits so they could make the donations in their names and conceal where the money actually came from, according to the indictment.

DiCaprio testified that he met and befriended Low at a birthday party in Las Vegas in 2010. “I understood him to be a huge businessman with many different connections in Abu Dhabi and Malaysia,” he said.

The 48-year-old Oscar winner answered questions on the witness stand calmly — occasionally deferring to a fuzzy memory on some details and dates. In addition to his relationship with Low, DiCaprio said he had known the defendant Michel since sometime in the 1990s when they met backstage after a Fugees concert.

Low was known for hosting lavish star-studded parties and group vacations on his private jet to events like the World Cup in Brazil. DiCaprio recounted one particular junket that involved flying to Australia to celebrate New Year’s Eve, then flying to Las Vegas to celebrate a second time in one day. Michel was present on some of these trips, DiCaprio said.

Low became a regular contributor to DiCaprio’s charitable foundation, and eventually Low floated the idea of providing the primary financing for The Wolf of Wall Street.

DiCaprio said he had Low’s funding and legitimacy carefully vetted before entering into a business relationship.

“I was given the green light by my team as well as my studio,” he said. “He was a legitimate business person wanting to invest in the movie.”

DiCaprio also recalled a “casual conversation” with Low in which Low told him he intended to make a large contribution to Obama’s re-election campaign.

“It was a significant sum — something to the tune of $20-30 million,” he testified. “I said, ‘Wow that’s a lot of money!’”

A founding member of the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees was enmeshed in political conspiracies involving millions of dollars in foreign money under two different U.S. presidents, federal prosecutors said as his trial got underway with opening statements Thursday (March 30).
Prakazrel “Pras” Michel is accused of funneling money from a fugitive Malaysian financer through straw donors to Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Five years later, prosecutors say he tried to squelch an investigation into the financier and persuade then-President Donald Trump’s administration to return to China a “vocal critic of the government.”

“This is a case about foreign money, foreign influence and concealment,” said prosecutor Nicole Rae Lockhart. Michel pocketed over $100 million in the saga involving “political intrigue, backroom dealing … burner phones and lies,” she said.

Michel’s lawyers have previously said he is innocent and “extremely disappointed” in the charges, but the defense decided to wait to give its opening statement in the trial that’s expected to last weeks.

The Department of Justice says Michel conspired with Low Taek Jho, usually known as Jho Low. The fugitive financier is accused of masterminding a money-laundering and bribery scheme that pilfered billions from the Malaysian state investment fund known as 1MDB.

Looted money paid for jewelry and luxury art and helped finance Hollywood films like The Wolf of Wall Street.

Low was once known for his business and social ties to American celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Leonardo DiCaprio, a possible witness in the case. During the 2012 presidential campaign, prosecutors allege Low directed more than $20 million to Michel, who concealed its origin by giving the money to straw donors to give to the Obama campaign. He later tried to lean on the donors to keep them from talking to investigators, Lockhart said.

In 2017, prosecutors say, the Grammy-winning rapper worked with a Republican “fixer” to try and shut down a U.S. investigation into Low and embezzlement from the Malaysian fund. He’s also accused of pushing the Trump administration to send a Chinese person who had fled to the U.S. back to China.

“It almost worked,” Lockhart said. “The defendant wanted money and was willing to break any laws necessary to get paid.”

The Justice Department last year announced charges against Low and two former Goldman Sachs bankers in the money laundering and bribery scheme that pilfered money from the fund, which was created to spur economic development projects in Malaysia. Low is a fugitive but has maintained his innocence.

One of the bankers, Roger Ng, was sentenced to 10 years in prison this month for his role in the scheme.