Posted on Mar 27, 2023
Pras Michel stands trial in Washington, D.C., for conspiracy and other charges
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https://www.npr.org/2023/03/27/ [login to see] /pras-michel-fugees
Jury selection in the trial of Grammy-winning musician Pras Michel kicks off today in the federal courthouse in Washington D.C., marking a pivotal moment in a case filled with allegations of political maneuvering and international intrigue.
Michel faces charges including conspiracy, witness tampering and failing to register as an agent of China, in a case that could send him to prison for decades if he's convicted.
He came to worldwide attention in 1996, when his band Fugees released The Score, which remains one of the best-selling and most-streamed albums of all time.
But what landed Michel, 50, in the bustling federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., took place only after he tried to refashion himself as a businessman and political force in the U.S. and in Haiti, the homeland of his parents.
At the center of the case is a billionaire named Jho Low, who allegedly bilked Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund of billions of dollars to fill his own pockets and curry favor with celebrities and American presidents. Low is a fugitive from justice believed to be in China, so Michel is standing trial on his own.
Jury selection in the trial of Grammy-winning musician Pras Michel kicks off today in the federal courthouse in Washington D.C., marking a pivotal moment in a case filled with allegations of political maneuvering and international intrigue.
Michel faces charges including conspiracy, witness tampering and failing to register as an agent of China, in a case that could send him to prison for decades if he's convicted.
He came to worldwide attention in 1996, when his band Fugees released The Score, which remains one of the best-selling and most-streamed albums of all time.
But what landed Michel, 50, in the bustling federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., took place only after he tried to refashion himself as a businessman and political force in the U.S. and in Haiti, the homeland of his parents.
At the center of the case is a billionaire named Jho Low, who allegedly bilked Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund of billions of dollars to fill his own pockets and curry favor with celebrities and American presidents. Low is a fugitive from justice believed to be in China, so Michel is standing trial on his own.
Pras Michel stands trial in Washington, D.C., for conspiracy and other charges
Posted from npr.org
Music
Washington
China
FBI
Crime
Posted 1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""The defendant, Prakazrel Michel, received over $100 million from Jho Low, a foreign fugitive responsible for one of the largest embezzlement schemes in history, to use backchannel influence to convince the then-President of the United States to drop a federal investigation into Low and to agree to the extrajudicial removal of a Chinese exile living in the United States," wrote prosecutors John Keller, Sean Mulryne and Nicole Lockhart.
Prosecutors put Michel in the middle of two different sets of alleged crimes: first, an illegal plan to enlist people to attend a fundraising dinner for Barack Obama during the 2012 presidential campaign; reimburse them $40,000 apiece using foreign sources of money for the cost of the tickets; and then threatening some of them if they came clean to authorities.
The second plan allegedly involved a secret lobbying campaign to help the billionaire Low lean on American justice officials and White House officials when his fraud scheme unraveled — and to help the Chinese government "secure the return" of a dissident who was living inside the U.S. and developing close ties with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.
The FBI arrested that dissident, Miles Guo, earlier this month for allegedly orchestrating a separate financial fraud. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has largely excluded evidence about that case from the Michel trial.
A number of people tied to Michel's far-flung alleged plan already have pleaded guilty or secured immunity from the government, including George Higginbotham, a former Justice Department lawyer moonlighting on work for Michel while he served in the government."
...""The defendant, Prakazrel Michel, received over $100 million from Jho Low, a foreign fugitive responsible for one of the largest embezzlement schemes in history, to use backchannel influence to convince the then-President of the United States to drop a federal investigation into Low and to agree to the extrajudicial removal of a Chinese exile living in the United States," wrote prosecutors John Keller, Sean Mulryne and Nicole Lockhart.
Prosecutors put Michel in the middle of two different sets of alleged crimes: first, an illegal plan to enlist people to attend a fundraising dinner for Barack Obama during the 2012 presidential campaign; reimburse them $40,000 apiece using foreign sources of money for the cost of the tickets; and then threatening some of them if they came clean to authorities.
The second plan allegedly involved a secret lobbying campaign to help the billionaire Low lean on American justice officials and White House officials when his fraud scheme unraveled — and to help the Chinese government "secure the return" of a dissident who was living inside the U.S. and developing close ties with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.
The FBI arrested that dissident, Miles Guo, earlier this month for allegedly orchestrating a separate financial fraud. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has largely excluded evidence about that case from the Michel trial.
A number of people tied to Michel's far-flung alleged plan already have pleaded guilty or secured immunity from the government, including George Higginbotham, a former Justice Department lawyer moonlighting on work for Michel while he served in the government."
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