The Fugees’ Pras set to owe $65m in federal case
Pras may have to pay around $65 million after federal prosecutors filed a motion for an order of forfeiture. The Fugees member was found guilty of political conspiracy last year and is facing up to 20 years in prison.
On December 19th, prosecutors asked the judge in the case to impose a judgment of $64,923,226.40. The amount is related to $104.24million allegedly sent from Malaysian businessman Jho Low to Pras as part of a number of “schemes” to influence government officials to end an investigation into whether Low embezzled from investment fund 1MDB.
According to the filing obtained by HipHopDX, the total amount also includes money to send a Chinese national back to China, with around $37million of that total already dealt with in a related case in 2018.
Pras was found guilty on ten counts in April 2023, including conspiracy to defraud the US, witness tampering and acting as an unregistered foreign government agent. He’s set to be sentenced on January 29th, 2025, with prosecutors asking for an “extended, significant” prison sentence. Conversely, Pras is asking for 36 months of incarceration and two years of supervised release.
During a recent interview, Pras appeared to call it quits as a member of the Fugees by subtly accusing Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean of leaving him out to dry.
“I’m done with that. They’re going to Europe [to tour]. I can’t go, so,” he told Variety. “It’s what it is. You can’t give people that kind of energy. So you could be frustrated, you could be disappointed, but I really believe in my path and in my journey, and I believe what’s mine, no one’s going to be able to take it away from me. “
He continued, “So it’s better that you have a small group of people who really believe in you and believe in what you’re doing than to have 100 people around you, and the minute something happens — boom. People just disappear.”
Pras later filed a lawsuit against Hill, accusing her of fraud and breach of contract over the Fugees’ 2023 reunion tour. Hill responded by calling the lawsuit “baseless” and “full of false claims and unwarranted attacks.”