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Pras, aka "the other" Fugee, faces federal accusations of campaign finance fraud during the 2012 US presidential election in a case involving a fugitive international financier and a fund of money. Malaysian investment.
Pras, named after the government Prakazrel Michel, is accused of helping Malaysian financier Jho Low, who has been on the run for years, to hide and conceal his contributions to the foreign campaign during the 2012 presidential race, reports Associated Press agency.
The Justice Ministry accuses Pras of using fake donors to give the campaign money to a US presidential candidate in 2012, which the authorities in the indictment only identify as "Candidate A."
The authorities claim that the money used to make fraudulent donations was diverted from a Malaysian investment fund called 1MDB.
In addition to covering candidate A's campaign chests, prosecutors said the stolen money was used to finance the film. the wolf of Wall Street and other Hollywood films, as well as buying expensive jewelry and artwork.
Pras lawyer Barry Pollack says the former member of the iconic hip-hop Fugees is "innocent".
"Mr. Michel is extremely disappointed that so many years after the government laid charges related to contributions to the 2012 election campaign," Pollack said. Michel is innocent of these accusations and is anxiously waiting for the case to be heard by a jury. "
Pras, who appeared in a Washington court, was allowed to return home to await trial after pleading not guilty.
Prosecutors argue that between June and November 2012, Low had ensured that Pras injected about $ 21.6 million of accounts and foreign sources in the 2012 election, reports Reuters.
As Reuters explains: "Under the federal electoral law, foreign contributions to foreign nationals in federal, state or local elections are a crime."
And although the indictment did not name the presidential candidate to whom Pras reportedly gave money, according to Reuters:
Michel was a strong supporter of former Democratic President Barack Obama and the federal election records show he has donated money to political committees that supported Obama's re-election campaign in 2012 and other democratic committees. .
Pras also faces civil charges that he has prepared to try to obtain from the Justice Department that he is giving up his investigation into misappropriating funds from the 1MDB fund, accusing Pras also of denying , according to AP.
The criminal investigation has already caught the attention of Low, as well as two former Goldman Sachs bankers, accused of money laundering and corruption by the federal government for looting the 1MDB fund, created to encourage investment in Malaysia.
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