Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Leonardo DiCaprio to Testify Against Pras


Last year Fugees member Pras Michel was indicted on money laundering charges, along with Malaysian businessman Jho Low, over a billon dollar bond scheme that nearly sank the Malaysian economy [click here if you missed that]. 

Now actor Leonardo DiCaprio is set to testify against Pras at trial...

Leonardo DiCaprio is listed as a witness in the federal trial of Pras Michel, who is accused of partaking in a multi-billion-dollar money laundering scheme which helped fund DiCaprio's film The Wolf of Wall Street.
DiCaprio, 47, previously testified in Washington DC in 2019 as a witness to the scheme that came to involve the 2013 blockbuster film he produced with Martin Scorsese.
Court documents show that DiCaprio may now be called on again to testify in Michel's trial, which is due to begin on November 4.
Michel, 49, a rapper known for his involvement in the hip hop group Fugees, was tied to Jho Low, 40, the Malaysian businessman turned fugitive who allegedly embezzled billions from the Malaysian state run economic development fund 1Malaysia Development Berhard, commonly known as 1MDB.
Michel allegedly received between $8million and $40million for his role in assisting Low - who is known for his celebrity associations - in the scheme.
Others on the witness list include three Trump White House staffers - former chief of staff John Kelly, former deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, and former national security advisor H.R. McMaster.
Pras was also charged in 2019 with helping Low to defraud the US government by transferring over $21million of overseas funds.
Nearly $1million of those funds he allegedly funneled into Barack Obama's 2012 election campaign through 20 donors to avoid detection, according to The Washington Post.
DiCaprio became unwittingly wrapped up in the scheme when Michel helped fund The Wolf of Wall Street's $100,000,000 budget.