Bizarre descent of 90s Fugees superstar Pras Michel
Ready or not, here he comes: Bizarre descent of 90s Fugees superstar Pras Michel – from Grammy success to lynchpin of $100m foreign extortion scheme that involved Barack Obama and Leonardo DiCaprio
- Michel, 50, faces 20 years behind bars for his role in an elaborate international plot that included illegal campaign donations and lobbying for China
- He was the unlikely agent of flamboyant Malaysian businessman and fugitive Low Taek Jho
- The rapper’s trial heard bombshell testimony from Leonardo DiCaprio and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions
Fugees star Pras Michel faces 20 years in prison after he turned from Grammy-winning rapper to a secret lobbyist for China in a bewildering plot whose cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
Michel was the unlikely agent of flamboyant Malaysian businessman and fugitive Low Taek Jho, who paid the rapper to wield influence from the corridors of Washington D.C. to the mansions of Hollywood.
Michel, who netted $88 million through the scheme, was found guilty on Wednesday of ten counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. He was paid with money Low allegedly embezzled from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund.
The rapper illegally funneled cash into political causes including Obama’s 2012 election campaign and also tried to persuade top-raking officials in the Trump administration to drop a federal probe into Low and deport a billionaire Chinese dissident.
He was convicted by a federal jury after a bombshell trial which included testimony from DiCaprio and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. With Michel to be sentenced at a later date, DailyMail.com explores the wild twists and turns in the elaborate scheme…
Fugees star Pras Michel faces 20 years in prison after he was found guilty of ten counts including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government
Michel took money from Jho Low, pictured left with Paris Hilton, a flamboyant Malaysian financier who allegedly embezzled $4.5 million from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund
Desperate washed-up rapper
At the height of their fame in the 1990s, The Fugees – formed by Michel with Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill – enjoyed the same level of stardom and acclaim as Michael Jackson.
Their second album, The Score, topped the Billboard 200, won the Grammy for best rap album in 1997 and spawned several hits which went to number one around the world – and made the band millionaires.
But by 2012, Michel’s star quality – and bank accounts – were running low. He ‘needed money and was willing to do anything to get it,’ Justice Department attorney Nicole Lockhart said during the opening of his trial.
Pras Michel, pictured right with his Fugees bandmates, made millions in the 1990s as the hip hop group scored several number ones, two Grammy awards and enjoyed international fam
Prosecutors described a man whose fame and fortune had dwindled – and said Michel ‘needed money and was willing to do anything to get it’ when he joined forced with Jho Low
Michel met Low in 2006. Between 2012 and 2017, he was paid $88 million by the shady Malaysian businessman to act as a straw donor and lobbyist for Low’s interests.
The rapper helped Low secretly funnel money into then-president Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign via shell companies, hiding the donations’ origins.
Michel also lobbied in 2017 to help the Chinese government secure the return of dissident billionaire Guo Wengui, a friend of president Donald Trump’s political strategist Steve Bannon.
He also played a role in urging the government to drop a probe into Low over his leading role in the embezzlement of billions of dollars from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Besides money laundering and campaign finance violations, he was charged with acting as an unregistered agent for China, concealment and false record keeping, witness tampering, and false statements.
Michel and his lawyers argued he didn’t realize the conduct was illegal.
The Hollywood connection
A courtroom sketch shows Leonardo DiCaprio as he delivered his testimony to Michel’s trial. The actor spoke about Jho Low and the lavish parties thrown by the Malaysian financier
The blockbuster moment during Michel’s trial came, fittingly, when Leonardo DiCaprio testified in early April about his relationship with Low.
Low part-funded the 2013 movie The Wolf of Wall Street, which was directed by Martin Scorsese and pulled in more than $400 million at the box office.
DiCaprio, who is not suspected of any wrongdoing, told jurors he met Low in 2010 and attended ‘a multitude of lavish parties’ thrown by the financier.
Low’s parties, held at high-end nightclubs and aboard luxury yachts, were attended by A listers from Alicia Keys and Paris Hilton to Britney Spears.
Such was Low’s influence that Spears once jumped out of a cake to wish him a happy birthday.
Low part-funded the 2013 blockbuster The Wolf of Wall Street, which starred DiCaprio. He also made massive donations to the actor’s charity, including artworks worth millions of dollars
DiCaprio told Michel’s trial: ‘I understood [Low] to be a huge businessman with many different connections in Abu Dhabi and Malaysia… He was a prodigy in the business world and ultra-successful.’
DiCaprio believed Low was a legitimate businessman but cut ties with the financier after investigations were launched into him
Low made massive donations to DiCaprio’s charity, including a $3.2m Picasso artwork and another by Jean-Michel Basquiat worth $9.2 million. The actor handed the donations to authorities and cut ties with Low after the businessman’s finances were placed under investigation.
DiCaprio told the trial about a New Year’s Eve party thrown by Low in Australia – before attendees were flown to Las Vegas so they could celebrate the countdown twice.
Low once told DiCaprio he wanted to make ‘significant contribution’ to the Democrats of ‘between $20 million and $30 million’ ahead of the 2012 election.
DiCaprio told the trial: ‘I basically said, ‘wow, that’s a lot of money’.’
The Oscar winner answered questions calmly on the stand and said that in addition to his relationship with Low, he had known Michel since sometime in the 90s, when they had met backstage after a Fugees concert.
DiCaprio said Michel might have once attended a Thanksgiving party at his home but ‘memory does not serve’.
Fugitive Malaysian party boy
Jho Low was the moneyman behind the international scheme – and he allegedly made this fortune as the mastermind of the largest embezzlement plot ever.
The Malaysian businessman, 41, allegedly spearheaded the 1MDB scandal, which siphoned $4.5 billion from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund.
He’s now wanted by the US government and believed to be hiding in China.
Before Interpol issued a red notice for Low’s arrest in 2016, he enjoyed a reputation as a flamboyant party boy whose lavish events included a host of A listers.
His other connections include Kim Kardashian, who was paid $50,000 to attend one of his birthday parties and once received a trash bag filled with $250,000 from Low after a card game.
Low studied at Wharton – University of Pennsylvania’s famed business school. For his 20th birthday, he rented out a club for $40,000 in Philadelphia to party with his friends.
Gigi Hadid and Jho Low at a ball in 2014 before he became a fugitive wanted by US authorities
Jho Low wears a trilby and shades as his parties with Paris Hilton in 2010
Low was pictured with Hilton on several occasions and also counted Britney Spears and Alicia Keys as acquaintances
According to prosecutors, after college he became a mastermind in offshore financing – would get Malaysian banks to lend him billions of dollars and learned how to set up shell companies.
He was friends with the Malaysian prime minister – and helped him fund his government by setting up a state-owned sovereign wealth fund – which was named 1MDB.
1MDB stands for 1Malaysia Development Bhd, and was created to promote development in the country.
He would siphon hundreds of millions of dollars to himself and started partying with the elite and famous – including DiCaprio and Paris Hilton.
Low owned luxury real estate in New York, Los Angeles, and London – as well as millions in art and private planes.
DC influence and secret lobbying for China
The lifespan of the plot covered the White House administrations of both Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
Michel allegedly took large sums of dirty money from Low then donated the cash through straw donors to Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.
Michel was also charged over attempts to convince the Trump administration to drop an investigation into Low. He also tried to convince senior department officials to have billionaire Chinese dissident Guo Wengui deported to China.
Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions gave testimony at Michel’s trial about the lobbying efforts linked to Guo.
Guo is a friend of Steve Bannon, Trump’s one-time chief strategist. Guo was arrested in New York City last month over allegations he masterminded a $1 billion fraud then splashed the cash on a yacht, mansion and other outrageous luxuries.
Michel lobbied on behalf of China for the deportation of Guo Wengui (right) and billionaire dissident who’s now being held in the US over a $1 billion fraud. Guo was a friend of Steve Bannon (right), Trump’s former chief strategist
Former Attorney General Jess Sessions, who was part of Trump’s administration, testified at Michel’s trial about efforts to have Guo Wengui deported to China
Michel funneled cash from Jho Low into Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and also lobbied senior officials in the Trump administration for the deportation of Guo Wengui
Sessions testified about two high-level meetings to discuss the potential deportation of Guo.
‘I remember there was a meeting at the State Department. I believe Homeland Security and the Department of Justice were there – in their conference room,’ he said.
Sessions said Chinese officials also attempted to arrange a meeting to discuss the possibility.
He said he did not ‘recall ever having met’ Michel and also indicated there was nothing blatantly wrong with approaching the attorney general’s office of the Department of Justice to advocate for the deportation of someone wanted in a foreign country.
‘I think that’s an appropriate action, although the State Department would have an important role to play in that and others, perhaps Homeland Security, since this figure was important to China,’ said Sessions.
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