Prakazrel ‘Pras’ Michel, a former Fugees rapper, was convicted on felony counts of conspiring with a Malaysian financier to arrange a series of foreign lobbying activities aimed at influencing the US government under two presidents.
The Grammy-winning musician and former Fugees member was charged on numerous counts in connection with a failed attempt to help Malaysian billionaire Jho Low and the Chinese government obtain access to US officials, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
The Grammy-winning rapper from the 1990s hip-hop trio has been charged with ten counts of criminal activity, including working as an unregistered foreign agent of China, witness tampering, and falsifying campaign funding documents. He had entered a not guilty plea to all counts.
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The defense said Michel simply wanted to make money and received terrible legal counsel as he reinvented himself in the political realm.
High-profile witnesses during his trial included Leonardo DiCaprio and former US Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Michel’s lawyer David Kenner said he was “extremely disappointed” by the verdict, but remains hopeful the charges could be dismissed by the judge.
No sentencing date has been set.
Michel first met Low in 2006, when the businessman was making big bucks and hanging out with celebrities like Paris Hilton.
He assisted in the financing of Hollywood films such as The Wolf of Wall Street. Low, according to DiCaprio, presented to him as a respectable businessman and expressed wanting to give to Mr. Obama’s campaign.
Michel also testified in his own defense, stating that Low desired a photograph with Mr. Obama in 2012 and was willing to pay millions of dollars for it.
Michel stated that he received $20 million from Low to assist him in obtaining the photograph and used some of the funds to pay for friends to attend fundraising events. He claimed that no one had ever warned him that was prohibited.
Prosecutors claimed Michel made the donation on Low’s behalf and afterwards tried to intimidate the straw contributors – people who illegally use another person’s money to make a political contribution in their own name – using texts from burner phones to dissuade them from cooperating with investigators.
Prosecutors allege Michel accepted millions again after Donald Trump’s election to cease an inquiry into charges Low masterminded a money laundering and bribery scheme that stole billions from the Malaysian state investment fund known as 1MDB.
Low, who is also wanted on separate federal charges in New York for allegedly stealing $4.5 billion from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, is still at large.
Michel was also paid to try to urge the US to repatriate a government opponent suspected of crimes in China without registering as a foreign agent, according to authorities.
On that accusation, the defense cited Mr. Sessions’ testimony, who served as Mr. Trump’s top law enforcement official until his resignation in 2018.
Mr. Sessions stated that he was aware of the Chinese government’s desire for extradition but had not met Michel. The rapper’s ultimately failed efforts to schedule a meeting on the subject did not appear unlawful, according to the former attorney general.