Feds accuse rapper and fugitive businessman Fugees of allegedly channeling funds for 2012 presidential campaign

Federal prosecutors have indicted a fugitive Malay businessman and one of the founding members of the 90s hip hop group, the Fugees, for injecting more than a million dollars into money launderers. campaign accounts to support the reelection of President Barack Obama, according to a federal indictment a series of cases related to a vast global scandal of finance and money laundering.

The charges against the fugitive businessman, Jho Taek Low and Prakazrel "Pras" Michel, one of the members of the Fugees, stem from a broad federal effort to recapture billions of dollars. Low has already been accused of stealing a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, some of which would have been used. to try to influence US government officials.

According to the new indictment, the men transferred $ 21.6 million of foreign accounts to US companies to help them conceal the source of political contributions, which can not legally come from foreign donors. Michel would have recruited 20 donors, who were his friends and associates, to make more than $ 1 million in contributions to political accounts supporting Obama's re-election, before attempting to gain access to the President and White House events .

Neither Obama nor his campaign team have been accused of committing unlawful acts or being aware of these activities. The indictment also notes that Low has been denied access to an event at the White House. Obama has not been mentioned by name in court documents. But the candidate who received the contributions is described as "candidate A and his administration" and the document refers to "candidate A" in the White House, which was occupied by Obama at the time.

Low and Michel were charged Friday by US District District Court prosecutors for conspiring to defraud the country by filing false statements and two counts of falsification in a case.

The two men, through lawyers, challenged the charges against them.

Michael Loccisano / Getty Images for the New York Times

"Mr. Low is innocent – and he is presumed innocent under US law," said a spokesman for Low, through his lawyers, who published his response on a public website. charges against Mr. Low have no concrete basis: Mr. Low has never made any direct or indirect campaign contributions to the United States and he unequivocally denies any involvement or knowledge of the alleged activities. "

Michel's lawyer, Barry J. Pollack, wrote in an email to ABC News that his client "is extremely disappointed that so many years after the government charges the 2012 campaign contributions." ".

"Mr Michel is innocent of these accusations and looks forward to the case being heard by a jury," Pollack said.

The case details alleged violations of campaign laws that prohibit foreign donors from contributing to US political campaigns and prohibit Americans from acting as relays to disguise the true source of these donations. The government accused Michel of orchestrating such an operation. Michel reportedly ordered straw donors to donate "in their own name, rather than in names of the true source of funds," according to court documents.

At the same time, while Michel would have set up donors to attend fundraisers for "Candidate A" who "required a contribution of at least $ 40,000," he handed out donations to the fund. money to Low by making checks of several hundred thousand dollars, according to court documents. There was a time, in October 2012, when Michel was "short of money, like 500 dollars" and sent an email to his financial advisor to transfer money to him, according to court documents.

Although the case focuses on contributions to Obama, it could have wider political implications for Republicans if Michel chose to seek a cooperation agreement. Both Michel and Low have links with Elliott Broidy, a former senior political aide to the Republican National Committee and President Trump. Low was accused of asking for the help of the individual A, who would have been widely known to be Broidy, for pressuring the Trump administration to help choke him out. an extensive federal inquiry into his financial activities, according to a file filed in another court. Broidy is not named in this ranking, but has been widely identified as an individual.

A spokesman for Broidy arrived Saturday refused to comment. A Broidy lawyer, Christopher Clark, told the Washington Post in August that Broidy "never agreed to work for, was detained by a foreign government, or was ever compensated by a foreign government. For any interaction with the US government, never is a lie. "

The FBI raided Broidy's Los Angeles office last July, according to a recent ProPublica report citing search warrants. The search warrant documents the names of Michel's associates. Broidy has not been loaded.

Although it is still unclear where Low is, it is only the latest in a series of charges against him by federal prosecutors, who place him at the center of the case. a so-called massive and massive global financial scandal. Low was indicted in November 2018 by prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York for attempting to launder billions of dollars from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investment fund. Michel's name was revealed when these charges were announced because of his alleged work for Low, but he was not charged in this case.