KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 — Rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel was paid US$100 million (RM443 million in today's exchange rate) to help halt United States investigation of fugitive tycoon Low Taek Jho and aid the Chinese government in seeking the extradition of a billionaire dissident, a US prosecutor told jurors yesterday.
Bloomberg quoted prosecutor Sean Mulryne as saying Michel, 50, had played a central role in a plot to convince President Donald Trump’s administration to end a probe of the man known as Jho Low’s alleged embezzlement of billions of dollars from the Malaysian development fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Michel was also accused of acting as China's agent in seeking the extradition of Guo Wengui, Mulryne said.
“This case is about foreign influence, it’s about foreign money, it’s about greed,” Mulryne said in closing arguments that followed four weeks of testimony at Michel’s illegal-lobbying trial in Washington federal court.
Michel, a member of the Fugees hip hop group, is accused of failing to notify the US authorities about his back-channel lobbying for the fugitive Malaysian billionaire. The rapper was said to have kept US$70 million from the US$100 million Low paid for that lobbying for himself.
The rapper is also charged with funneling US$2 million (RM8.8 million) of Low’s money into the 2012 campaign of President Barack Obama through straw donors who the rapper eventually refunded, and of tampering with witnesses.
US prosecutors alleged he pocketed at least US$18 million for those efforts.
In 2017, Mulryne said the rapper worked with other "conspirators" to try suppress a US civil forfeiture lawsuit against Low and campaign for Guo’s removal from the US.
The conspirators included former Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy; former Justice Department attorney George Higginbotham, who worked on the side as Michel’s lawyer; and Nickie Lum Davis, a Hawaiian businessman.
All three had pleaded guilty but Broidy was pardoned by Trump. Higginbotham and Broidy testified as government witnesses, the business wire reported.
Michel was indicted with Low, a fugitive now sought by several countries including Malaysia. Investigations point to him being and reports suggest Low enjoys some degree of protection from the Chinese government.
Aside from failing to comply with the US Foreign Agents Registration Act and Chinese agent charges, Michel is charged with witness tampering. He’s also charged with conspiring to launder money.
Michel's lawyer, David Kenner, argued that neither Broidy nor Higginbotham had testified that they’d told Michel he had an obligation to register as a foreign agent.
“Mr. Michel had no knowledge of a requirement for him to register under FARA. Nobody told him, and he didn’t know it himself,” Kenner was quoted as saying, referring to the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
Michel himself had testified in his own defense this week, Bloomberg reported, telling jurors he never acted on China’s behalf and that he didn’t know he had to notify the US under the FARA.
The rapper argued that the US$100 million he received came indirectly from Low, as prosecutors say, but was an investment for entertainment projects. He had also admitted to having paid “friends" to donate to Obama’s campaign, but claimed did so with his own money and not Low’s.
Previously, Michel was said to have received a total of US$20 million to help Low get a photograph with the Obamas.
Other witnesses who have testified is a Morgan Stanley banker who testified that Michel told him his millions came from a wealthy investor on a boat in Asia, Bloomberg reported.
US prosecutors said Michel had lied to banks about the source and purpose of tens of millions of dollars he received from Low. The banker had concerns that the money may be laundered, and closed the account.
For the witness tampering charge, US prosecutors claimed Michel had used a “burner phone” in 2019 to send intimidating text messages to witnesses. His lawyer, however, argued the government offered no evidence that Michel had bought the phone.
