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WASHINGTON (AP) – A founding member of the 1990s hip-hop group, the Fugees, has been indicted in a campaign financing plot that took place during the 2012 US presidential election, announced Friday. the Ministry of Justice.
A four-count indictment charges Prakazrel "Pras" Michel with conspiring with fleeing Malaysian financier Jho Low to conceal contributions to foreign campaigns. He allegedly used straw donors to make a campaign donation to a presidential candidate, identified in the indictment only as a candidate A.
"Mr. Michel is extremely disappointed by the fact that so many years after the government laid charges related to contributions to the 2012 election campaign," said defense lawyer Barry Pollack. "Mr. Michel is innocent of these accusations and is anxiously waiting for the case to be heard by a jury. "
Michel faces a separate civil forfeiture claim accusing him in a ploy to get the ministry to abandon an investigation into a misappropriation of funds from a Malaysian investment fund. Michel denied having committed a wrongdoing in this case.
The embezzlement of the fund, known as 1MDB, has become a political scandal in Malaysia. The looted money was used to buy jewelry and luxury art works and to finance the movie "The Wolf of Wall Street" and other Hollywood productions. Last year, the Justice Department announced lawsuits against Jho Low and two former Goldman Sachs bankers as part of a money laundering and bribery scheme that was stealing from the bankruptcy court. 39, money on the fund, created to stimulate economic development projects in this country.
One of these bankers, Roger Ng, was extradited from Malaysia several years ago to face charges in New York.
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