Pras is opening up about the feds accusing him of criminal conspiracy and campaign finance due to his association with a Malaysian businessman named Jho Low, for which he is facing 22 years in prison for his alleged involvement. 

Low, real name Low Taek Jho, is accused of robbing his country’s sovereign wealth fund (known as 1MDB) of $4.5 billion dollars. Low reportedly used the money to buy his way into wealthy social circles, including putting up $100 million to finance Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf Of Wall Street in an attempt to become friends with Leonardo DiCaprio. Pras is accused of receiving between $8 million and $40 million for his part in the laundering conspiracy.

The Fugees rapper is accused of donating $1.1 million of Low's money to Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and making it look like it was from multiple people. Pras spoke to Rolling Stone about his introduction to the world of politics, stating, "I was one of those people who was just dabbling. I never thought I would be full-time into politics. I realized politics is not for me. The problem with politics is this: It’s that the people within politics, they’re dirtier than the people who are not in politics." 

In 2019, Pras was indicted on four criminal counts for his illegal contributions, and he was offered a plea deal that would drop the charges and allow part of the $74 million that had been seized from his four bank accounts to be returned.

Pras turned down the deal, as he maintains that he is innocent, and his lawyers believe that he's being turned into a scapegoat for Low, who fled the U.S. and cannot be prosecuted. Two Goldman Sachs bankers and Frank White, Jr., the former chairman of President Obama’s reelection campaign, are set to testify against Pras in a trial that will start on March 27.

After turning down his plea deal, Pras was hit with "a superseding indictment that added eight more criminal charges, including bank fraud, concealment of material facts, witness tampering, violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and working as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China." 

Two additional charges in the case stem from Jho allegedly using Pras' connections to become closer with a member of Donald Trump's administration in an attempt to make the investigation into his embezzlement case disappear. 

During his interview, Pras also spoke about being introduced to China’s Vice Minister of Public Security, Sun Lijun, who was attempting to get the U.S. to return a wealthy fugitive billionaire to Chinese authorities. Pras had one meeting with Lijun, who made it seem like he was operating against the U.S. on China’s behalf.

Pras stated, "What benefit would I get trying to break laws? It’s not worth it to me. I’m like a pariah now. I’ve got friends who won’t talk to me because they think there’s a satellite in orbit listening to them." 

Pras also denied that the Fugees' highly anticipated 25th-anniversary tour was canceled because of his legal troubles. He explained, "It got a bit complicated. That’s life. But I think now we cordial. ’Clef and I speak, here and there. He texts me, he calls me. Lauryn and I, we cool. You know, it’s all right. But obviously, dealing with what I’m dealing with, I’ve just been kind of, like, focusing on that, you know what I mean?" 

Source: Rolling Stone