Former Fugees Member Pras Charged With Federal Campaign Finance Crimes
Former Fugees’ member Prakazrel “Pras” Michel has been charged with campaign finance crimes in federal court, the Department of Justice announced today (May 10). The four-count indictment charges Pras with “conspiracy to defraud the United States government and for making foreign and conduit campaign contributions,” as well as “one count of a scheme to conceal material facts and two counts of making a false entry in a record in connection with the conspiracy.”
According to the U.S. Justice Department, Pras facilitated the transfer of approximately $21,600,000 into the United States by a Malaysian businessman named Low Taek Jho (aka “Jho Low”), who was also charged in the indictment. The money was reportedly brought into the country between June 2012 and November 2012 for the purposes of “funneling significant sums of money into the United States presidential election as purportedly legitimate contributions, all while concealing the true source of the money.” It is unclear which 2012 candidate or candidates were the planned recipients of the money.
When reached for comment by Pitchfork, Pras’ attorney Barry J. Pollack stated: “Mr. Michel is extremely disappointed that so many years after the fact the government would bring charges related to 2012 campaign contributions. Mr. Michel is innocent of these charges and looks forward to having the case heard by a jury.”
A spokesperson for Mr. Low issued the following statement via his attorneys: “Mr. Low is innocent—and he is presumed innocent under U.S. law. The allegations against Mr. Low have no basis in fact: Mr. Low has never made any campaign contributions directly or indirectly in the U.S. and he unequivocally denies any involvement in or knowledge of the alleged activities.”
The indictment reads that Pras distributed approximately $865,000 to “straw donors” to help conceal the source of the campaign contributions, and additionally violated Federal Election Commission (FEC) guidelines along the way. Pras was arraigned in D.C. court earlier today.
Originally Appeared on Pitchfork
