The former Fugees member is accused illegally transferring $21 mill into the U.S. for campaign contributions.
Pras is facing some pretty serious charges related to financial fraud as the United States Justice Department contends that the former Fugees member was involved in defrauding the government. Court paperwork accuses Pras “making foreign and conduit campaign contributions,” and he’s charged with “one count a scheme to conceal material facts and two counts making a false entry in a record in connection with the conspiracy.”
The musician allegedly transferred over $21 million illegal funds into the U.S. from a Malaysian businessman named Jho Low. The government says the two men attempted to funnel “significant sums money into the United States presidential election as purportedly legitimate contributions, all while concealing the true source the money.” This all apparently went down during the 2012 elections, however, specific candidates who were to receive the contributions aren’t named.
Pras has denied the allegations and recently caught up with TMZ Live to discuss his court case…and his forthcoming EP. “I was mixing the Rick Ross vocals for my new EP, Elon Musk, that’s actually coming out next month and I get a call from my lawyer and he tells me there’s a helicopter hovering over the studio and about 30 agents are about to come rush in and take me in,” he said. “I was a little bit appalled because I don’t know what’s going on, so I told my lawyer to get them to fall back a little and he made a call.”
The rapper explained that they believed he was a flight risk, so he gave his lawyer his passport and the authorities reportedly “fell back.” Pras also says he never had any financial dealings with Low, even though the indictment states otherwise. He doesn’t want to pass up the opportunity to plug his project, so he does go on to say, “By the way, I wanna give a big shout out to my man DJ Khaled. I know his album is coming out on Thursday. That’s all I was doing. I’m just making music, doing my artistry thing. I meet people along the way. I travel internationally.” Pras has pleaded not guilty all charges.