On Wednesday, a federal court in Washington DC found former rap artist Prakazrel "Pras" Michel guilty of colluding with the Chinese government to channel tens of millions of dollars into President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.
Michel, who founded the 90s rap group The Fugees, could face up to 20 years in prison after being convicted of "conspiracy to defraud the US, witness tampering, and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government," as reported by Breitbart News.
Court documents revealed that Malaysian businessman Jho Low and the Chinese government enlisted Michel to funnel money into Obama's re-election bid, as foreigners are prohibited from donating to U.S. campaigns.
Michel allegedly took "tens of millions of dollars" to lobby the U.S. government on behalf of the Chinese government. David Kenner, Michel's attorney, announced their intention to appeal the ruling, expressing confidence that it would be overturned.
"We are extremely disappointed in that result but are very, very confident in the ultimate outcome of this case," Kenner said after the verdict. "If we do move to a sentencing hearing, I remain very confident we will certainly appeal this case. This is not over."
Federal prosecutors claimed that Michel received over $20 million from foreign-Chinese national accounts, which he subsequently distributed to 20 "straw donors from June to November 2012," according to The Post. These donors then contributed to the Obama campaign in their names to prevent the money from being traced back to Low.
Court documents reportedly showed that Michel was paid $70 million for his assistance to Low. However, the Chinese government launched an investigation into Low, accusing him of embezzling $4.5 billion from 1MDB, Malaysias state investment fund, as reported by Reuters.
In 2017, Low allegedly sought Michel's help to influence the government to prevent the Trump administration from investigating Low's "alleged role in billions of dollars being embezzled from 1MDB, the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund," according to CNN.
Court documents indicated that Michel advocated for the extradition of Chinese dissident Guo Wengui on behalf of the Chinese government.
Michel, however, testified that he only tried to help Low find an attorney in the U.S. Earlier this month, movie star Leonardo DiCaprio was called to testify in the case because he had partied with Low, who reportedly suggested to DiCaprio during a conversation that he intended to contribute to Obamas presidential campaign, as noted by the New York Post.
DiCaprio recalled the conversation, stating: It was a casual conversation about what party he was in support of, I told him what party I was in support of. And he told me that he, or he and a group, were going to make a significant contribution to the Democratic Party. I said 'wow, that's a lot of money.'"
Low reportedly helped finance DiCaprios 2013 hit film "The Wolf of Wall Street," for which the actor won a Golden Globe for best actor. DiCaprio and Low maintained a friendship for several years, with the actor understanding Low to be a significant businessman with connections to Abu Dhabi and Malaysia.
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