Pras Michel (Credit: The Globe and Mail)
A Washington, D.C., jury found famous rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel guilty on 10 federal charges, including corruption, conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.
The Grammy award-winning artist from the world-famous 1992 hip-hop group “The Fugees” who was at the center of multimillion-dollar political conspiracies was convicted on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. The trial included testimony from high-profile political and entertainment figures, including actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Michel received more than $100 million from Malaysian billionaire Jho Low, which he used effort to influence American politics, prosecutors charged. He was also convicted of lobbying on behalf of the Chinese government, according to the BBC.
(…) Low allegedly funneled money to Michel, and is accused of stealing about $4bn from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund during the 1MDB scandal, according to the BBC. He is currently wanted by the U.S. government.
(…) Michel said he met Low in 2006 when he was associated with big Hollywood names and helped finance Hollywood films, including DiCaprio’s “The Wolf of Wall Street.” DiCaprio testified that Low seemed to be a legitimate businessman who was interested in donating to former President Barack Obama’s campaign, according to The Associated Press. (Read more The Daily Caller, 4/27/2023) (Archive)