Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
Pras’ recent legal troubles just got more complicated.
The Fugees rapper Prazrakel “Pras” Michel, along with a Malaysian financier, was hit with charges from a federal grand jury this past Thursday (June 10) of illegally lobbying the former Trump administration to drop an investigation tied to a global bribery scandal and attempting to remove a Chinese billionaire dissident from the United States.
The indictment, announced by the Justice Department, comes six months after former President Donald Trump issued a pardon to Elliot Broidy, who pled guilty last October for his role in the illegal lobbying effort on behalf of Low to stamp out the investigation into Low’s embezzling funds from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad development and investment company. 1MDB is owned by the government of Malaysia. Low is considered a fugitive from justice. In addition to he and Pras being charged in 2019 for allegedly funneling millions of dollars into supporting former President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012, Low was also charged with paying bribes to officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi and in directing some of the cash towards the financing of Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street.
The Justice Department also stated that Pras worked with Broidy “and others“ to engage in undisclosed lobbying campaigns at the direction of Low and the Vice Minister of Public Security for the People’s Republic of China, respectively.” One of those campaigns also sought to bring billionaire Guo Wengui back to China. The rapper was also accused of witness tampering and making false statements to banks.
“Pras intends to defend this case very vigorously and believes that when all of the facts are developed, a jury will conclude that this was a selective prosecution that has unfairly targeted Mr. Michel and will exonerate him,” Michel’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said in a statement.
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