Malaysia’s Jho Low tried to lobby Trump administration to drop 1MDB probe, US says

The fugitive billionaire, together with a former hip hop rapper, also tried to influence officials to extradite a Chinese dissident from the US

Both were charged with money-laundering conspiracy, while rapper Prakazrel Michel was also accused of witness tampering and conspiring to make false statements to banks

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Published: 9:48am, 12 Jun 2021Updated: 9:50am, 12 Jun 2021

A Malaysian fugitive financier and a former member of hip hop trio the Fugees were accused in a new indictment of illegally lobbying the Trump administration to drop an investigation tied to the 1MDB global bribery scandal and remove a Chinese dissident from the US.

A federal grand jury on Thursday returned a superseding indictment against Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, and Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, according to a Justice Department statement on Friday.

Low and Michel’s aim was to influence then-President Donald Trump’s Justice Department to abandon the probe of Low and others and extradite a wealthy Chinese exile who has criticised the government in Beijing. That exile has not been identified by the Justice Department, but a person familiar with the matter has said it is Guo Wengui.

Both Low and Michel were charged with money-laundering conspiracy, while Michel was also accused of witness tampering and conspiring to make false statements to banks.

“Pras intends to defend this case very vigorously and believes that when all of the facts are developed, a jury will conclude that this was a selective prosecution that has unfairly targeted Mr Michel and will exonerate him,” Michel’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said in a statement.

Prakazrel Michel, former member of hip hop band The Fugees. File photo: Reuters

With Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean, Michel was a member of the Fugees, which had some of the biggest hits of the 1990s.