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.”