Fugees Rapper, Pras Michel Found Guilty in Corruption Trial

Former member of the Fugees Prakazrel ‘Pras’ Michel has been found guilty of 10 international crimes for his role in political conspiracies.

The Grammy award-winning musician was accused of conspiring with foreign influence during the administrations of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, between 2012 and 2017. Prosecutors said Michel received more than $100m from Malaysian billionaire Jho Low.

Report says he was found guilty of 10 criminal counts including conspiracy to defraud the US, lying to banks, acting as unregistered foreign agent and witness tampering. He now faces up to 20 years in prison.

Mr. Low who is also wanted by the US authorities is accused of stealing about $4billion from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund during the infamous 1MDB scandal, reports BBC. Mr. Low had allegedly funded Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio’s 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street with money stolen from the fund.

Last week, Michel had testified that Mr. Low paid him $20 million in 2012 to get a picture of himself with Obama. According to CNN, prosecutors believe Michel directed over $800,000 of that money to Obama’s campaign through a number of straw donors.

Michel was also accused of taking money from China to advocate for the extradition of a US-based Chinese dissident, Guo Wengui, back to China.

However, David Kenner, Michel’s lawyer has said he was disappointed with the outcome of the trial. He said “I remain very, very confident that we will ultimately prevail. This is not over.”

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