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Fugees rapper Pras Michel convicted in US over lobbying campaigns with Malaysia’s Jho Low
- Prosecutors said Michel agreed to funnel about US$2 million from Low into Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign in exchange for receiving millions of dollars
- He was also accused of seeking to get the Trump administration to drop 1MDB-related probes into Low and to send fugitive billionaire Guo Wengui back to China
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A jury on Wednesday convicted Grammy Award-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of The Fugees hip hop group on criminal charges that he conspired with a Malaysian financier to orchestrate a series of foreign lobbying campaigns aimed at influencing the US government under two presidents.
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His conviction in federal court in Washington followed a trial that was filled with political intrigue and featured high-profile witnesses including Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio and former US attorney general Jeff Sessions. Michel endured a blistering cross-examination by prosecutors while testifying in his own defence.
Michel was charged with 10 counts of conspiracy, acting as an agent of a foreign government, witness tampering and falsifying campaign finance records. Prosecutors accused him of plotting with Malaysian businessman Jho Low to attempt to influence the administrations of presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
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Low, who also faces separate federal charges in New York that he embezzled US$4.5 billion from Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, remains at large.
The Fugees won two Grammy Awards for their bestselling 1996 album The Score. But by 2012, according to prosecutors, Michel was in desperate need of cash and found a solution through Low, who was known to throw elaborate parties and pay celebrities big sums of money.
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