Fugees star, Prakazrel "Pras Michel”, testified defense on Tuesday, April 18, that he received $20 million from Malaysian financier Jho Low to help him get a photo with former President Barack Obama.
The rapper faces criminal conspiracy, foreign
lobbying and campaign finance charges for allegedly plotting with Low to
attempt to influence the administrations of Obama and former President Donald
Trump.
Before a jury in Washington, the Grammy
winner said Low, who is now a fugitive accused of embezzling $4.5 billion from
Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, did not direct him to make campaign
donations with the money for the photo.
“After consulting with my attorneys and the
universe, I have decided to testify," Michel told the court Tuesday before
answering questions from his defense team and prosecutors alike about the
approximately $800,000 he said he paid to friends so they could donate to a
political campaign.
Prosecutors allege the Grammy-winning artist
immersed himself in American politics at the behest of the wealthy Malaysian
financier to gain access, peddle influence, and make money.
He was indicted in 2019 on federal charges
that Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, paid him millions to help launder
money Low had allegedly embezzled from a state-owned investment fund in his
home country.
Testifying in court on April 18, Michel said
he used some of the funds for three friends to attend $40,000-a-plate
fundraisers for Obama. Michel said he did not know it was improper to do this.
"When you received the money from Jho
Low, you used it to make political contributions," federal prosecutor John
Keller said in a Washington court.
"No," Michel responded at the
trial. "Once he gave me the money, it was my discretion how I spent the
money because it's my money."
He described the funds from Low as "free
money."
It is illegal for foreigners to donate to
U.S. election campaigns, and it is also against the law to pay someone else to
make a campaign contribution.
Pras Michel is accused of involvement with
Low in three schemes, for which prosecutors say he was paid millions of
dollars.
In the first, prosecutors claim that Michel
violated federal election laws by funneling about $2 million from Low into
Obama's 2012 campaign coffers and masking the source of the funds by using
straw donors.
Michel is also accused of seeking to convince
the Trump-era Justice Department to drop its civil and criminal investigations
into Low over the 1MDB scandal, and trying to lobby the U.S. on behalf of China
to send Chinese businessman Guo Wengui to China.
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