A federal court in Washington found rapper Pras Michel, former artist for The Fugees, guilty on Wednesday of colluding with the Chinese government.
“The Grammy-winning artist and former member of the Fugees faced multiple counts over the failed conspiracy to help Malaysian businessman Jho Low and the Chinese government gain access to U.S. officials, including former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump,” reported CNN.
Michel now faces up to 20 years in prison after being found “guilty of conspiracy to defraud the US, witness tampering and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.” Michel remained largely silent throughout the proceedings on Wednesday. His attorney, David Kenner, said the case will be appealed and called the verdict disappointing.
“We are extremely disappointed in that result but are very, very confident in the ultimate outcome of this case,” Kenner told reporters. “If we do move to a sentencing hearing I remain very confident we will certainly appeal this case. This is not over.”
Pras Michel, former member of the Fugees, center, exits federal court in Washington, DC, on Monday, April 3, 2023. A prosecutor told jurors last week that Michel was driven by greed and “profited exorbitantly” as he sought to lobby the U.S. government illegally on behalf of a financier. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Prosecutors had alleged that Michel funneled $800,000 that Low paid to him in 2012 to get a picture with former President Barack Obama. Michel gave the money to Obama’s campaign through a series of straw donors. As Breitbart News reported:
Federal prosecutors say that Michael distributed up to $21.6 million of Low’s money to some 20 straw donors who then donated the money to Obama. The straw donors were U.S. citizens employed to make the donations to shield the fact that the money actually came illegally from a foreign donor.
Michael is alleged to have been paid $70 million by Low to affect the donations scheme and other services he provided. Michael has been charged with 11 criminal counts of trying to influence the Obama and Trump administrations.
Michel, however, claimed that he used the money at his own discretion and did not follow Low’s orders. “I could have bought 12 elephants with it,” Michel testified. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio recently testified that he found the money in donations to Obama’s campaign surprising.
“It was a significant sum — something to the tune of $20-30 million,” DiCaprio said on the stand. “I said, ‘Wow that’s a lot of money!’”
According to CNN, Low approached Michel again in 2017 when former President Trump’s administration began investigating “his alleged role in billions of dollars being embezzled from 1MBD, the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.”
File/Lauryn Hill and Pras perform at Global Citizen Live at Pier 17 on September 22, 2021 in New York City. (Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
“According to the prosecutors, Low directed over $100 million to Michel to help push the government, including Trump, to drop its investigation into Low,” noted CNN. “Prosecutors also say Michel advocated for the extradition of a Chinese dissident, Guo Wengui, on behalf of the Chinese government.”
“Michel, however, testified he only tried to help Low find an attorney in the US and only told authorities about Guo because he thought he was a criminal. The former Fugees member also said the $100 million was for a media business he was starting and the investment wasn’t from Low,” it added.
Low, who frequented Hollywood circles, is believed to be in China.
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed on Tubi, Google Play, YouTube Movies, or VIMEO On Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2023/04/27/former-fugees-rapper-pras-michel-found-guilty-for-colluding-with-china/
Fugees’ Pras Michel
convicted in foreign influence conspiracy
27 Apr 2023
April 27 (UPI) — Pras Michel, a founding member of the U.S.
hip-hop group the Fugees, has been convicted of being involved in a
multi-million-dollar conspiracy aimed at influencing the White House under two
administrations and for working as an agent for China.
The 50-year-old
rapper, whose birth name is Prakazrel Michel, was convicted by a federal jury
on Wednesday for his role in the sprawling scheme that involves fugitive Jho
Low.
Low, a Malaysian businessman, was accused by the Justice
Department in 2018 of embezzling billions from the Malaysian state-owned and
controlled 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund.
Billions of
dollars were stolen from Malaysia in the 1MDB scandal through corruption,
bribery and money laundering. The scope of the scandal was international and
saw former Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, jailed.
Prosecutors
said Michel, under the direction of Low, conspired with others to lobby the
administration of former President Donald Trump to drop the case against Low in
2017.
“Michel
played a central role in a wide-ranging conspiracy to improperly influence top
government officials, including the then-president of the United States and the
then-attorney general,” Special Agent in Charge Harry Lidsk of the Department
of Justice said in a statement.
They
also said Michel, acting under the direction of China’s Public Security
Ministry, attempted to have a Chinese dissident repatriated back to the Asian
nation.
Finally, Michel
was prosecuted on charges of violating campaign finance laws for conspiring
with Low to funnel the Malasian’s money into the 2012 presidential election
campaign of an unnamed candidate.
Federal
prosecutors said Michel received the money from Low, which he then contributed
via 20 straw donors. The pair, through their contributions, forced a
presidential joint fundraising committee and an independent expenditure
committee to submit false reports to the Federal Election Commission.
“The
defendant brazenly conspired to help a foreign national launder millions of
dollars in illegitimate campaign contributions into the 2012 U.S. presidential
election,” Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigation
Division said in a statement Wednesday.
Michel
is one of four people to have been charged in connection to the scheme to
influence the Trump administration to drop the case against Low, with major
Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy pleading guilty to his role in the scheme in
2020, U.S. businesswoman Nickie Mali Luma Davis pleading guilty that same year
and former Justice Department employee George Higginbotham pleading guilty in
2018.
Michel
was convicted Wednesday of 10 counts including conspiracy, witness tampering
and serving as an unregistered agent of a foreign power. Sentencing has not yet
been scheduled, but he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
“As
proven at trial, the defendant engaged in an extensive conspiracy to use
millions of dollars in foreign funds to engage in illegal back-channel lobbying
and make unlawful campaign contributions,” Assistant Attorney General Kenneth
Polite Jr. of the Justice Department said.
“Today’s
verdict demonstrates that anyone who engages in unlawful foreign-sponsored
efforts to influence American officials, our elections or the criminal justice
system will be brought to justice.”
https://www.breitbart.com/news/fugees-pras-michel-convicted-in-foreign-influence-conspiracy/
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