Hip-hop star and Fugees member Pras Michel picked up a different kind of microphone as he took the witness stand in Washington, D.C.'s federal courthouse to defend himself in a multimillion-dollar international fraud trial.
He was indicted in 2019 on federal charges that Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, paid him millions to help launder money Low had allegedly embezzled from a state-owned investment fund in his home country.
Low first paid Michel $1 million to consider the proposition and start planning, Michel said Tuesday. But by the end of the campaign season, Michel fell short and consistently required more money to get the job done. Months later, according to court records and testimony, wealthy Democratic donor Frank White hosted a fundraiser at his Washington, D.C., home, and pressed Michel to fill a table with friends, each worth about $40,000 in donations.
During cross-examination, prosecutors elicited from Michel that he was aware of other election money laws, like those that prevented Low, a foreign national, from donating to Obama's campaign, and another that put a limit on how much Michel himself could donate. Still, he contended he was unaware his money moves could have been illegal.
In one such instance, several years after the 2012 election, Michel said he had"heard through friends that they were getting visits from the FBI" about the campaign contributions. After consulting a lawyer, Michel said he was advised to send a letter to the individuals he paid to donate to Obama's campaign and assert the money in question was not a gift, but a loan that needed to be repaid.
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