Fugees’ Pras Michel convicted of federal conspiracy charges

Prakazrel Samuel Michel, better known as Pras Michél of the Fugees, was found guilty on all counts today (Wednesday, April 26) in his federal conspiracy trial. The rapper was convicted of ten federal offenses, including conspiracy, campaign finance violations, money laundering, illegal lobbying, witness tampering, and acting as an agent of a foreign government without registering as one.

The case stems from Michel’s involvement with Low Taek Jho (aka Jho Low), the fugitive Malaysian businessman who has been named the mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal, allegedly embezzling $4.5 billion from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund. Together, Low and Michel are accused of funneling federal funds to influence the political campaigns of Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Prosecutors claimed Michel helped Low donate $2 million to Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign and sought to convince Trump’s justice department to drop civil and criminal investigations into Low.

“Defendant continues to deny he was acting as an agent for China and denies he willfully and knowingly acted as a secret agent under the direction and control of China when he approached the FBI,” Michel’s defense lawyers David Kenner and Charles Haskell wrote in court papers back in March.

Kenner also said “there was no agreement to do anything in an unlawful way” and that no “James Bond … cloak and dagger stuff” occurred. The FADER has reached out to Mr. Kenner’s firm for further comment. Mr. Haskell declined to comment on the case when reached by The FADER.