Federal prosecutors told jurors how the rapper and former member of the Fugees was allegedly involved in schemes to illegally influence the Obama and Trump administrations on behalf of a foreign businessman.

The trial against Grammy winner Pra Michel actually began on Thursday with opening statements. Prosecutor Nicole Lockhart told jurors how Michel allegedly took over $100 million from Malaysian billionaire Joe Lowe and used the money to increase his influence in the United States.

The conspiracy began in 2012, Lockhart said, when “Low was willing to spend a lot of money to gain influence” in Washington and among the rich and famous. “So they made a deal with him to secretly donate money to groups that supported then-President Barack Obama,” the prosecutor said, adding that the rapper scammed the Obama campaign by using a number of non-existent donors for donations.

In 2017, Lowe faced several investigations in the United States over allegations that he embezzled billions of dollars from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund 1MDB and used some of that money to shop in the country.

“Low was in trouble and needed help,” the prosecutor said, claiming she contacted Michel again. The two men waged a behind-the-scenes campaign to try to get the Trump administration to drop the investigation into Lowe, including trying to schedule a golf game with the then Malaysian president and prime minister to discuss 1MDB, which never happened.

The biggest scandal in Malaysian history

It has been described as the biggest financial scam in recent years. In 2015, the 1MDB case surfaced, a major corruption, bribery and money laundering scandal that began in 2009 in Malaysia. Joe Low is supposed to be the mastermind behind this vaunted scam that rocked the business world.

Prior to his role in the 1MDB case, Joe Lowe lived a wealthy and luxurious life. He constantly arranged parties and events with high-ranking guests. He paid to visit celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Kim Kardashian and Emily Ratajkowski. It is noted that he was paired with Paris Hilton, as well as with the famous model Miranda Kerr.

Najib Razak, who was ousted in the May 2018 general election, has been arrested several times over the past year on charges related to 1MDB, a massive corruption and embezzlement scandal from the Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund, which he himself created.

When he became prime minister and was looking for ways to finance his government, Low came up with the idea of ​​a sovereign wealth fund. So they created 1MDB. Lowe took control of the fund. He gained access to unlimited wealth and embezzled millions of dollars of public money to fund his parties.

In 2015, when the fraud was exposed, Najib Razak was accused of transferring over $700 million to his personal bank accounts from 1Malaysia Development Berhad. 2020 A Malaysian court found the country’s former prime minister guilty of corruption and sentenced him to 12 years in prison in the first trial linked to the multibillion-dollar 1MDB public fund scandal. At the same time, he was fined $49.40 million for abuse of power.

In 2016, U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said the government would seek to recover more than $1 billion in 1MDB assets. Authorities confiscated Lowe’s plane, mansions, and his share of 1MBD. Some of his friends delivered their gifts to the government. This included $8 million for Kerr jewelry as well as $13 million for DiCaprio artwork. Goldman Sachs, implicated in the scandal, agreed to pay the US $5 billion and a $2.9 billion fine.

Source: CNN, AP.

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