Former rapper Pras Michel took $100 million as illegal lobbyist, US says

Nineties rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel was allegedly paid $100 million to stop the United States from investigating Malaysian tycoon Jho Low and to aid the Chinese government in seeking the extradition of a billionaire, federal prosecutors claimed Thursday.

Michel, who was part of the 1990s rap group Fugees, illegally helped keep federal investigators from looking into Low’s alleged embezzlement of billions of dollars from the Malaysian development fund 1MDB, according to prosecutor Sean Mulryne.

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“This case is about foreign influence, it’s about foreign money, it’s about greed,” Mulryne said in closing arguments, according to Fortune.

Michel testified on Wednesday that the $100 million is indirectly from Low but said it was not payment for lobbying. Instead, he suggested it was an investment for entertainment projects. He also admitted that Low paid him $20 million for a photograph with former President Barack Obama in 2012.

The former rapper, while working for Low, was also allegedly an agent of China in seeking the extradition of Guo Wengui. Michel told jurors he never acted on China’s behalf and did not know he had to notify the United States through the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Michel’s defense team claimed the case was not about foreign influence over U.S. affairs but simply about a photograph Low paid for with Obama. Michel has been charged with violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, working as a Chinese agent, witness tampering, and money laundering. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The trial, which started four weeks ago, included testimony from Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio, who testified that Low informed him that he and a group of people would be donating $20 million to $30 million to the Democratic Party during a conversation in 2012. Prosecutors believe the money donated to the party came from the Malaysian fund.

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Michel was indicted alongside Low, who is still at large and believed to be in China. Other plotters in the scheme include former Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy, former Justice Department attorney George Higginbotham, and Nickie Lum Davis, a Hawaiian businessman. All three pleaded guilty.

The case is now headed to jury deliberations, which will start on Monday after U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly gives the jury its final instructions.