Rapper Pras Michel convicted in US over lobbying campaigns with Malaysian fugitive Jho Low
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Rapper Pras Michel endured a blistering cross-examination by prosecutors while testifying in his own defence.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - A jury on Wednesday convicted Grammy Award-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the hip-hop group Fugees on criminal charges that he conspired with Malaysian tycoon Jho Low
His conviction in a 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.
He faced 10 charges, including conspiracy, acting as an agent of a foreign government, witness tampering and falsifying campaign finance records.
Prosecutors accused him of plotting with Low to attempt to influence the administrations of former presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
Low, who faces separate federal charges in New York of embezzling US$4.5 billion (S$6 billion) from Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, remains at large.
Michel’s lawyer David Kenner told reporters outside the courthouse he was “extremely disappointed” by the verdict, but remains hopeful the charges would be dismissed by the judge.
US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly set deadlines for both parties to file briefs on a number of post-trial motions, including a request for a judgment of acquittal, that extend into July.
Mr Kenner said: “I remain enormously confident that this case is not over, and that we will ultimately prevail.”
The Fugees won two Grammy Awards for their best-selling 1996 album The Score.
But according to prosecutors, by 2012 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.
Prosecutors said Michel agreed to funnel about US$2 million from Low into Mr Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign in exchange for receiving millions of dollars.
Because federal election law prohibits foreigners from donating to US campaigns, prosecutors said Michel masked the source of the funds.
Michel was also accused of seeking to convince the Trump-era Justice Department to drop civil and criminal investigations into Low over the 1MDB scandal
On the witness stand, Michel said the US$20 million Low paid him over the course of nine months in 2012 was to help Low secure a photo with Mr Obama.
Michel acknowledged that he used some of the money to pay for three of his friends to attend two political fund-raisers for Mr Obama’s 2012 campaign, but denied doing so at Low’s direction.
“Once he gave me the money, it was my discretion how I spent the money because it’s my money,” Michel told the jury, describing the payment as “free money”.
On whether he failed to register as a foreign agent, Michel told jurors that his attorney George Higgenbotham never told him it was required by law.
Michel also said he passed along information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about China’s desire to have Guo extradited amid concerns by China that Guo was “allegedly a criminal rapist”, saying he “thought it was something the FBI should know”.
Higgenbotham, who has since pleaded guilty over his role in the scheme, told jurors that he met the Chinese ambassador in Washington at Michel’s insistence to assure the Chinese that the Trump administration was working towards extraditing Guo.
Guo, who was never extradited, has since been indicted on unrelated fraud charges in New York. REUTERS
Correction note: In an earlier version of this story, the US dollar to Singapore dollar currency conversion was wrong. It has since been corrected. We are sorry for the error.
