UPDATE | Feds accuse Jho Low, Pras of funneling cash to Obama re-election campaign | Pras sentenced to 14 years in prison

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2019/05/10/feds-...funneling-cash-to-obama-re-election-campaign/

Feds accuse Jho Low, Pras of funneling cash to Obama re-election campaign
By Laura Italiano
May 10, 2019 | 6:29pm | Updated May 10, 2019 | 10:56pm

The feds have slapped new charges against fugitive Malaysian playboy Jho Low — this time for alleged campaign-finance violations connected to President Obama’s 2012 re-election.

The latest allegations accuse Low of transferring $21.6 million to ex-Fugees rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, who then moved $865,000 of that money to “straw” donors who contributed to an Obama fundraising committee.

The new indictment against the pair, unsealed Friday in Washington, DC, says the money was destined to “Candidate A.”

The link to Obama was first reported by Bloomberg News.

Michel is additionally charged with transferring another $1 million of Low’s money to an unidentified independent committee involved in the 2012 election.

“Michel recruited his friends, associates, and others to act as straw donors to make contributions,” the indictment alleges.

Prakazrel “Pras” MichelNur
Photo via Getty Images


Low, 37 — whose whereabouts remain unknown — and Michel, 46, are charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and making foreign and straw campaign contributions.

The “Ghetto Superstar” singer is already accused of conspiring with ex-DOJ official George Higginbotham to thwart the sprawling US probe into Low.

According to a civil suit filed in November, Michel and Higgenbotham helped Low funnel some $73 million in looted Malaysian funds into four US bank accounts in hopes of influencing the feds’ investigation.

Higginbotham has pleaded guilty in that case; Michel told Bloomberg News through his lawyer that he is innocent of the charges.

Despite his fugitive status, Low’s staff of lawyers and spokespeople still knows how to reach him. One spokesperson issued a statement Friday insisting, “Mr. Low is innocent.”

The statement, from the Madison Avenue p.r. firm Reevemark, continued, “Mr. Low has never made any campaign contributions directly or indirectly in the US, and he unequivocally denies any involvement in or knowledge of the alleged activities.”

 

[Arheel's Uncle]

https://www.tristatehomepage.com/news/ap-fugees-rapper-pras-michel-sentenced-to-14-years-in-prison-over-illegal-donations-to-obama-campaign/

Fugees rapper Pras Michel sentenced to 14 years in prison over illegal donations to Obama campaign​

FILE – Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, a member of the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees, accompanied by defense lawyer David Kenner, right, arrives at federal court April 3, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)



by: MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, Associated Press


Posted: Nov 20, 2025 / 04:46 PM CST


Updated: Nov 20, 2025 / 04:50 PM CST


WASHINGTON (AP) — Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for a case in which he was convicted of illegally funneling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.

Michel, 52, declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him.

In April 2023, a federal jury convicted Michel of 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. The trial in Washington, D.C., included testimony from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Justice Department prosecutors said federal sentencing guidelines recommended a life sentence for Michel, whom they said “betrayed his country for money” and “lied unapologetically and unrelentingly to carry out his schemes.”

“His sentence should reflect the breadth and depth of his crimes, his indifference to the risks to his country, and the magnitude of his greed,” they wrote.

Defense attorney Peter Zeidenberg said his client’s 14-year sentence is “completely disproportionate to the offense.” Michel will appeal his conviction and sentence, according to his lawyer.

Zeidenberg had recommended a three-year prison sentence. A life sentence would be an “absurdly high” punishment for Michel given that it is typically reserved for deadly terrorists and drug cartel leaders, Michel’s attorneys said in a court filing.

“The Government’s position is one that would cause Inspector Javert to recoil and, if anything, simply illustrates just how easily the Guidelines can be manipulated to produce absurd results, and how poorly equipped they are, at least on this occasion, to determine a fair and just sentence,” they wrote.

Michel, a Brooklyn native whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti, was a founding member of the Fugees along with childhood friends Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean. Their hip-hop band won two Grammy Awards and sold tens of millions of albums.

Michel obtained over $120 million from Malaysian billionaire Low Taek Jho — also known as Jho Low — and steered some of that money through straw donors to Obama’s campaign.

Michel also tried to end a Justice Department investigation of Low, tampered with two witnesses and perjured himself at trial, prosecutors said.

Low, who has lived in China, was one of the primary financiers of “The Wolf of Wall Street,” a movie starring DiCaprio. Low is a fugitive but has maintained his innocence.

“Low’s motivation for giving Mr. Michel money to donate was not so that he could achieve some policy objective. Instead, Low simply wanted to obtain a photograph with himself and then-President Obama,” Michel’s attorneys wrote.

In August 2024, the judge rejected Michel’s request for a new trial based in part on his defense attorney’s use of a generative AI program during his closing of the trial’s arguments. The judges said that and other trial errors didn’t amount to a serious miscarriage of justice.