Jho Low, of the 1MDB, rapper Pras Michel indicted for donating Obama

(Bloomberg) – US prosecutors have laid additional charges against Jho Low, a Malaysian national accused of looting the 1MDB fund, for violations of campaign funding related to President Barack Obama's re-election efforts in 2012.

According to an indictment released in Washington on Friday, Low transferred $ 21.6 million to Pras Michel, a musician and film producer, who distributed approximately $ 865,000 among 20 people. These straw donors, in turn, donated money to a presidential fundraising committee without indicating that they came from a foreign source. Michel has also sent more than a million dollars to an independent election committee, prosecutors said.

The charges against the two men testify to the considerable efforts made by the Malaysian financier to gain influence in the United States. In an indictment last year, Low and Michel were not charged, but could be identified as co-conspirators trying to influence Trump's administration. the Department of Justice investigated the 1MDB scandal.

Trump's Ministry of Justice says Low's purchase of influence dates back to the previous administration.

During Obama's reelection campaign, Michel's father and Jho Low participated in a fundraiser in Washington, DC, and sat on either side of Obama, according to the indictment.

Candidate A

Obama's name does not appear in the indictment, which refers only to him as a candidate A. Neither is he presumed that he or the political groups were aware of the efforts deployed abroad or made a mistake. Straw donors have not been identified either.

Obama, through a spokesperson, declined to comment.

The most recent charges stem from the Ministry of Justice investigation into fraud and corruption at 1MDB. Intended to promote economic development in Malaysia, the fund was instead used by Slow, advisor to Malaysia's prime minister, Najib Razak, according to US prosecutors and other authorities around the world.

In the United States, Low had already been accused of conspiring to bribe foreign officials and launder money. In Malaysia, he has been accused of receiving over a billion dollars from the public fund in 2009 and 2011, and multiple counts of money laundering. The location of Low is unknown.

"Mr. Low is innocent – and he is presumed innocent under US law," said a spokesman. Low has never made campaign contributions directly or indirectly to the United States and he unequivocally denies any involvement or knowledge of the alleged activities. "

"Mr. Michel is innocent of these charges and looks forward to his case being heard by a jury," said his lawyer, Barry Pollack, on Thursday in response to a Bloomberg report that the charges were imminent.

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The indictment describes Jho Low's efforts to use Michel to gain access to Obama during a two-dollar fundraiser during the 2012 re-election campaign.

One of them, held in June in Miami, required a minimum contribution of $ 40,000. Michel failed in his attempt to obtain last minute permission for Low to be present, according to the record. Three months later, Michel tried to summon Low and his father in the presence of Obama during an event in Washington. The father was allowed to enter and during the fundraising, Michel and he sat on either side of the "candidate A", according to the indictment. The price of entry for this event was not clear.

The men took pictures of themselves with the president and also ordered copies of professional photos taken of the event showing them with Obama, according to the indictment.

Although Friday's charges relate to the conduct of 2012, Michel was a central player in recent bank fraud maneuvers that culminated in a guilty plea by former Justice Department official George Higginbotham in November. last, according to court documents filed in this case.

How Malaysia's 1MDB scandal has turned the financial world upside down: QuickTake

In this scheme, Higginbotham admitted to conspiring to influence US investigations into the looting of 1MDB. He admitted to falsifying documents in 2017 to create bank accounts that were then used to transfer money from "co-conspirator B" in Asia to "co-conspirator A" in the United States. The descriptions of co-conspirators are identical to those of Low and Michel.

According to Higginbotham's plea, he created the false-paper trail under Michel's "direction". Higginbotham understood that Michel and Low had created these fake companies because no US bank would accept funds from Low, which had been identified by the Department of Justice in 2016 as the architect of the 1MDB fraud.

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