Fugees' founder Pras stands accused of playing a prominent part in a billion dollar embezzlement scheme controlled by Jho Low, a shady Malaysian business tycoon. But Pras isn't alone; he allegedly worked hand-in-hand with a former Justice Department official named George Higginbotham, who used his influence to help Jho Low evade an inevitable FBI sting, concerning his 1Malaysia Development Berhad money laundering operation.
"According to the allegations in the complaint, Michel and Higginbotham defrauded U.S. financial institutions and laundered millions of dollars into the United States as part of an effort to improperly influence the Department’s investigation into the massive embezzlement and bribery scheme involving 1MDB, said Benczkowski said, the Assistant Attorney General in New Jersey. "The Criminal Division and our law enforcement partners will do everything we can to trace, seize, and forfeit the proceeds of foreign corruption that flow through the U.S. financial system."
Pras, née Prakazrel Michel, was not charged for his involvment in the scheme, but the Justice Department maintains that all the variables in the case, including Pras' potential indictment, are alterable throughout the course of their "ongoing investigation." Pras' partner in crime Higginbotham was indeed charged one felony count of "conspiracy to make false statements" to a bank, to which he pleaded guilty at a pre-trial hearing on Friday.
