Star witness Leonardo DiCaprio testifies for prosecution at Fugees star Pras Michel’s 1MDB money laundering trial – and reveals rapper also attended lavish parties thrown by fugitive ‘mastermind’ Jho Low
- The movie star testified in court on Monday against former Fugees star Pras Michel in a case about the latter’s role in the 1MDB scandal
- Michel, a 90s hip-hop star, is accused of acting as a US conduit for some of the stolen funds designated to affect US politics
- DiCaprio testified that Low threw lavish parties, including ones which Michel attended
- DiCaprio’s 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street was allegedly primarily funded by stolen 1MDB money
Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio gave bombshell testimony in court for the prosecution in federal court on Monday morning as part of hip-hop star Pras Michel’s 1MDB money laundering trial.
DiCaprio’s involvement in the case stems from the money behind his film ‘The Wolf of Wall Street,’ which was in part funded by the man who allegedly masterminded the 1MDB plot.
Prakazrel ‘Pras’ Michel is a founding member of 90s group The Fugees. He is accused of funneling money from fugitive Malaysian financer Jho Low through donors to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.
Prosecutors allege that Michel attempted to illegally lobby both the Obama and Trump administrations by using funds given to him by Low that were stolen millions from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.
DiCaprio, the prosecution’s star witness, told the court that Michel attended lavish parties thrown by Low – including a New Year’s Eve celebration in Australia and then Las Vegas.
Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio testified for the prosecution in federal court on Monday morning as part of hip-hop star Pras Michel’s 1MDB money laundering trial
Prakazrel ‘Pras’ Michel, a member of the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees arrives at federal court for his trial in an alleged campaign finance conspiracy
Leonardo Dicaprio with Jho Low at the Paris premiere of The Wolf of Wall Street
In the center of the case is Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low. The financer is accused of being the brains behind an international money laundering and bribery scheme that stole billions of dollars from the Malaysian state investment fund known as 1MDB.
Low is currently a fugitive, but has maintained his innocence.
Michel, according to prosecutors, became a vessel for Low’s stolen millions and his attempts to influence the government of the United States.
It is alleged that from June to November of 2012, Low directed more than $21.6million from foreign accounts to Michel’s accounts in order to funnel money into Obama’s 2012 campaign coffers.
Michel then supposedly used the money to pay 20 donors to pass the money to the campaign in their names and hide its true origins.
On Monday, DiCaprio, 48, testified in Washington, DC that he met and became buddies with Low at a birthday party in Las Vegas in 2010.
‘I understood him to be a huge businessman with many different connection in Abu Dhabi and Malaysia,’ said the A-lister.
The Oscar winner answered questions calmly on the stand and said that in addition to his relationship with Low, he had known Michel since sometime in the 90s, when they had met backstage after a Fugees concert.
While he was still riding high, Low was known to throw lavish parties around the world, often featuring celebrity guests. He flew groups on his private jet to events like the World Cup.
Michel, testified DiCaprio, was present on some of those trips, one of which included jetting to Australia for New Year’s Eve and then jetting to Las Vegas to ring in the New Year a second time.
Low built a relationship with DiCaprio via charitable donations to his foundation and eventually offered to provide the primary financing for ‘The Wolf of Wall Street.’
The movie star testified that Low’s funding was vetted and he was ‘given the green light by my team as well as my studio.’
‘He was a legitimate business person wanting to invest in the movie,’ he said.
DiCaprio also recalled a conversation during which Low said he intended to make a large contribution to Obama’s reelection effort.
‘It was a significant sum – something to the tune of $20-$30 million,’ he said. ‘I said, wow that’s a lot of money!’
On the stand on Monday, DiCaprio told the court how Low built a relationship with him through charitable donations to his foundation and eventually offered to provide the primary financing for ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’
Michel, according to prosecutors, became a vessel for Low’s stolen millions and his attempts to influence the government of the United States
The Wolf of Wall Street had a reported budget of $100million and grossed a total of more than $400million worldwide when it was released in 2013.
It was nominated for five Academy Awards and gives special thanks to Jho Low in the credits.
The film’s production company, Red Granite, agreed to pay the US government $60million but admit no wrongdoing as part of a larger effort by the feds to seize close to $1.7billion in assets allegedly purchased with stolen 1MDB funds.
Who is Jho Low?
Jho Low is a Malaysian businessman who is now a fugitive after fleeing the US.
The 41-year-old is facing charges for money laundering – as well as a plethora of other offences.
He is linked to the 1MDB fund – which was rocked in an embezzlement scandal.
But before he became a fugitive, he lived a glamorous lifestyle rubbing shoulders with some of Hollywood’s elite.
Low studied at Wharton – University of Pennsylvania’s famed business school. For his 20th birthday, he rented out a club for $40,000 in Philadelphia to party with his friends.
According to prosecutors, after college he became a mastermind in offshore financing – would get Malaysian banks to lend him billions of dollars and learned how to set up shell companies.
He was friends with the Malaysian prime minister – and helped him fund his government by setting up a state-owned sovereign wealth fund – which was named 1MDB.
1MDB stands for 1Malaysia Development Bhd, and was created to promote development in the country.
He would siphon hundreds of millions of dollars to himself and started partying with the elite and famous – including Leo DiCaprio and Paris Hilton.
Low owned luxury real estate in New York, Los Angeles, and London – as well as millions in art and private planes.
But the penny dropped in 2014. The Malaysian prime minister realized what he’d been doing and in 2016 a US attorney sought to recover $1billion in assets from Low.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, most of 1MDB’s money raised was embezzled and diverted to shell companies and offshore bank accounts linked to Low.
Goldman Sachs, which was also involved in the scandal, entered its first-ever guilty plea and agreed to pay $5 billion and a $2.9 billion fine in the U.S.
Low denies any wrongdoing. Prosecutors are still trying to find him.
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