Fugees rapper Pras Michel challenged the federal seizure of $37.5 million in cash from his bank accounts at multiple banks around the U.S.
Pras was caught up in a multi-billion dollar money laundering scandal involving Kimora Lee’s husband, Tim Leissner, and Malaysian financier Jho Low.
Leissner, who is pictured above with Kimora and their son Wolfe, pleaded guilty in November to helping Jho Low launder billions of dollars looted from a Malaysian bank in 2016.
Pras, a Grammy Award-winning rapper, is challenging the federal seizure of $37.5 million as part of the Malaysian scandal.
Pras insists the $37.5 million is his, but the feds allege that the former Fugees star took the money from Low and deposited the cash in multiple banks across the United States.
“The property is not subject to forfeiture,” Michel claimed in a motion filed on Monday in Washington, D.C.
“The Complaint fails adequately to allege that the property is the proceeds of specified unlawful activity or was used to promote, conduct, or facilitate specified unlawful activity, and, in any event, Mr. Michel is an innocent owner of the property who did not know of the conduct or circumstances giving rise to forfeiture.”
The feds accused Pras of lying to the banks about the source of the funds.
“(T)he true source and purpose of the funds were not disclosed to the banks and were actively concealed from them,” the complaint reads.
“Michel then disbursed Jho Low’s funds to various individuals and entities to facilitate a lobbying campaign to represent the interests of various foreign nationals and entities, including Jho Low, in the United States.”
Pras is among a handful of A-list American celebrities who received cash or goods from Jho Low.
Other celebrities who were forced to surrender cash and goods to the U.S. Justice Dept. include Kim Kardashian, who was gifted a $325,000 white Ferrari from Low in 2011.
Actor Leo DiCaprio surrendered pricey paintings to the federal government, including a Picasso and an original Jean-Michel Basquiat painting worth millions.
Leissner, who once worked for Goldman Sachs’ Southeast Asia division, also forfeited $43.7 million in cash. He is banned for life from entering Malaysia.
Leissner is currently awaiting sentencing. He faces 10 years in prison.
Low has refused to surrender to Malaysian authorities after an arrest warrant was issued last year.
Kimora distanced herself from her husband’s business dealings.
“I fund my own business,” said Kimora in an interview with the NY Post.
“I’ve been in the fashion industry since [age] 12, modeling and all that. So all my money, not that I want to say it that way, this is my third marriage that I’m on so, no, my husband has nothing to do with my professional life.”
A total of $4.5 billion was looted from the Malaysian bank.
Photos by Gino / BACKGRID, Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images
scammer
So you took money from one bank. Then deposited it into another bank. Ummm,, Chile ok
Oceans 7 ain’t got shyt on these dudes
Kimora’s hubby is crooked. Good thing she’s independent in this marriage.
$37 mil Liquid seized??? Pras, you can challege the Feds until the cows come home… Homie, you know the res???
Kimora knows damn well what he was doing. I’m sure some of that dirty money made it’s way to her account. BUT she’s always had legitimate businesses that made money, so it’s probably hard for them to prove.
Ok. Like somebody believes he actually has 37 million legitimately.
37 mil…so where did it come from homie?
How do you loot millions from a bank? Asking for … ME
Oceans 8 ?
Honey if the Malaysian government can get a hold of him, buddy will ROT in jail. Theft is very serious in Asian culture.
I suggest you Google Tim leissner ?
These smart dumb fools up top can’t even launder money correctly… smh. ..That money should have been untraceable and damn sure not placed in accounts with any connection to my personal name.. and damn sure not in the US. I expect better shadiness..
I read the whole right up, did I miss what the source of the money is? Because it must be dirty as hell for them to be doing all this..or are they trying avoid taxes? I’m a little confused, I only make so much.
Kimora, you better hide your purse before they try to seize your ish too. That’s interesting this man was giving out such expensive “gifts” to peeps like Kim K and Leo Dicaprio. A Basquiat painting and a $325k Ferrari? I need some better friends man! lol
How do you steal BILLIONS and only face 10 years?
Crooks! Frauds! Smh but these banks are foul as well… no body wants to put in the hard work but want to take from working class society… I say send his a** to Malaysia and let them deal with them.
Really ….next
White-collar crime…smh
whateva happened to swiss bank accounts and off-shore accounts where do these people come from. millions of dollars all over the U.S. in american banks how stupid! you know in America they can track you down Fast!!!
pretty sure it was tied up in investments…I work in Finance so I’ll guess that is where it was derived from
I bet their pillow talk was mighty interesting….
oh yes it is….
Thanks!
If you watch Pras Interview he was investing his money from time. He’s smart with his cash he talk about the viagra era too.
Well Kimora prolly getting ready to be on her 4th marriage once her current husband goes to jail.
Pras, well, in the words of Krazy Kanye Kardashian “you ain’t dealing with no broke, broke nucca. Ummm, the feds got your coins Pras and they ain’t giving them back so I would say that you are a broke broke nucca.
Kimora gotta dust herself off and try again, it’s been a rough time for her lately. Sorry Pras got caught up in it.
Okkkk
Kimora you had a good run with these wealthy men. Russell Simmon , Tim, Birdman, and Djimon. Djimon wasn’t putting up with Kimora only give her a baby. He spend most of his time in Africa and France. . Russell his in another country because of sex scandal.
He better fights extradition with every he has.
After reading the whole article all got was Kim was giving up the nappy dugout to Jho Low?
Lol
Exactly.. you know they watch ever 10 thousand, so what would make these fools believe that no one would report millions.
She wants a filthy rich man at all cost. I ain’t saying she’s a gold digger, but she don’t mess with broke……..
It’s time for her to sit down somewhere. But we all know she will have an Asian man next, marry, have off spring and secure that additional bag.
son?
Time to pay the piper! Pras… A list for real??
Kimora stay poppin out babies… She has her own rainbow tribe and what’s this daddy# 3 or 4…. She said she already secured her bag. Got with Russ as a teen and he funded her first business and she’s been goin goin goin ever since
“…the feds allege that the former Fugees star took the money from Low and deposited the cash in multiple banks across the United States.”
——–
Sounds to me like Pras is lucky the Feds didn’t charge him with money laundering too.
I thought it was a little girl too by the ponytail
Kimora really knows how to pick em ?
I was about to say, the only interesting fact is that Pras had $37M to seize.
“head to the border, just head to the border”….Mexico is waiting just change your name to pedro.
Pedro you say huh ????
She needs to teach me
Ok. he better leave this sh*t alone, before they come back with some charges.
Nooooo! One piper is enough! ????
Lol
You sure? One is being investigated for sexual assault and the other investigated for fraud on a major level and is banned from entering some countries?
Have Kool Breeze worked with Kimora????? He/she is the person Erykah Badu talks in the song Tyrone ?! “Hang around bars with the stars”
That’s how we know that sh*t ain’t legit ???. Ninja you ain’t been linked to nothing successful in YEARS. Way you get dat kind of loot from?!?!? LIQUID assets on top of that ?
She’ll be calling captain save a h (Russell Simmons) in a minute.
?
4.5 Billion? WTF! Pras get all the way the f@%k outta here, you wasn’t even the talented one, how the hell would you earn that kind of money.
Right…has he been making major moves behind the scenes
Asian men don’t wanted her they will not lower their status to a lady with rainbow ? nation ready made family. Asian are stupid when it comes to procreation and protecting their coins. Leave it to blacks and some whites
The feds don’t play. Unless he can provide a paper trail showing how he earned that money, he’s fawked.
Leissner, who is pictured above with Kimora and their son Wolfe,
————————————-
I scrolled back up after reading “son”
?
He didn’t earn that much money. The financier, Jho Low, allegedly stole that money from a bank and distributed it in cash and goods among his friends, including Pras, Kim, Leo, etc.
Their son is beautiful. Straighter hair textures may grow longer and lay flatter but he looks all and very handsome boy.
Of course he did’nt my point exactly. Folks gotta watch who they call friends. He is going to jail
“Their son is beautiful.”
Get outta my head!
Wow! Kimora been married 3 times? How do these Kardashians and Kimoras do it? How do they find these rich men….give me your secret!
And She’s still married to him? That’s loyalty.
I want to understand this. Mr. Lo used Pras to deposit money in bank accounts around the US? What was Pras supposed to do in return?
At least she aint Color-struck…
I think Native American, Eskimo & Samoan categories are still left.
Try to steal a lawn chair from Home Depot…you’ll get 15.
She always puts herself and her kids first and paid.
But she and her kids are always first and paid. She’s never involved in her husbands messes.
yea he’ll drop his 16 year old for her lol
Yes she is. She looks for the color green. The only guy she had a kid by and didn’t marry is the one that’s not rich.
Lol if you say so.
Nope… She dips in any pond.
And makes new shades everywhere she goes.
Give Kimmie a break. She’s an Equal Opportunity Baby maker.
Maybe she’ll go for dark Hispanic next.
And the pictures of Wolfe and Kenzo together are beautiful. Kimora has two gorgeous sons!
Meaning she makes sure her and her kids are and stay paid.
Mr. Lo bought his friends gifts and gave them money as gifts. The feds want all his friend’s presents back.
He wasn’t smart enough to deposit it offshore.
Exactly.
Mexico extradited. Croatia doesn’t extradite and it’s beautiful there.
Pras “money laundering”
Wyclef “stealing the Haiti donations”
Lauren Hill “exposed as a fraud for not writing her own music”
Just throw the whole group away. They stay getting exposed as scam artist. Smh.
Their money puts them in the places where wealthy men are.
Thought it was a lil girl
Exactly
How he got $37 million and he the only one of the Fugees I can’t name??!!!!
Damn Kimora needs to b single
Me tooooooo ?
Rite and VLAD TV interviewed him asking how he’s the only 1 really staying afloat out of the 3. VLAD knew he was on some other shhh.
For now. U kno she all about them coins boo
I hope they make a movie out of this! LIFETIME.
Why isn’t this all over the news and internet?
I love a good heist or grifter movie!
United Nations up in that cooch…..
Wait Birdman?
All my friends are getting fired unless they give me gifts like Jho Low lol jk im trying figure out how these niqqas are even connected lol
The biggest part of this story is Pras was dumb enough to deposit $37 million in American banks instead of in offshore accounts in the Virgin Islands or The Netherlands.
The feds have been seizing cash and assets from his celebrity friends for the past 2 years. The U.S. media has been quiet, but the Daily Mail UK has been reporting about it.
This is so HUGE, and so hush. I really appreciate you covering major news stories like this!
Wait I thought that was a girl
Kimora about to leave his broke ass
Kimora about to leave his broke ass
as soon as i saw that, i wondered WHY? and he damn near laundered as much as the so-called billionaire leissner.
he’ll never see that money again.
Yup, on to the next billionaire.
kimora said wholeup! this aint my 1st rodeo, leave with wat u came with!
Did you know Lauren hill had fake dreads also
I think Kimora’s only been married twice. She must be counting her fake marriage to Djimon Honsou.
no the biggest part is Pras had $37 million. How??
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/40d2b8ce6a94ed16c24f8656527f21f93fe7fdb65f6c1f73ecd0717e7d965c3f.gif
Listen i was thinking the same thing!!! Fugees broke up years ago and his ass wasnt even the hottest out the group!!
Actually she’s been married twice, to Russell Simmons and this guy. She and Djimon did a “commitment ceremony” in ’08, but it wasn’t a legal marriage.
Reading between the lines, it looks like he was having people like Pras “park” the money for him in their accounts, and he’d reward them with cash or gifts.
Second Pras scandal first caught up with Trump and thr Russians now this
Pras is A- list??
Some Haitian scam
Yea, she has, it just hit me to whom too! Uncle Russ, Dijimon, and this dude!
3 times, Uncle Russ, Dijimon (yes, that’s what I call him…lol), and this dude
I thought crooks hid their money in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland
You correct I think ? it was a tradition ceremony.
With Djimon that was just a commitment ceremony they did in Africa. It wasn’t a legal marriage.
Apparently he was laundering billions of dollars looted from a Malaysian bank. He was a banker at Goldman Sachs and allegedly was helping the thieves move and stash the money.
Fair enough
LOL
She said her money was her third marriage, so she wasn’t counting Djimon.
When? They looked real to me.
BINGO.
Question where did Malaysian banks get that much money? Oops i forgot fake hair is a billion dollar industry.
I bet kim and leo was smart enough to list the gifts to the irs and paid appropriate taxes for them. Thats why their banks may have been saved.
that is my question…for real!!!!
so I wonder who will be Kimora’s next baby daddy once they yt man goes to the clink….cause he looks like he will not last 1 day in there…and we know that Kimora always has to have a man on her arm…sooooo….
Ah, I see. I guess some people love money enough to marry it. ??
WELP.
thats what I said!!! and I am only making 15.00 an hour and I know that! smh he is supposed tobe an a-lister no he is an a-list dummy! What was he thinkng? In the name of Fred Sandford…you big dummy!!!
yep
dont be disrespectful .. It was actually a malaysian scam! a haitian just came up and was stupid about it
Idk bout that … they all stem from the African diaspora. She already had 2 black men lol.
?I wasn’t! Could’ve been a Jamaican scammer who taught him too!! We will never know!
Pras has an interview, he did with Vlad Tv ,(YouTube), In reference 2 his investments over the years… He was very elusive when asked how he has been able 2 remain so well off after the disbandment of The Fugees..Makes sense now…
Aint no way he got $37 million. He doing something shady so I see why they seized it.
Omg that’s crazy…
The fugues sold a lot of albums…..
point made…lol
Yep!!! Minus the crimes, every man she’s married and had kids with been bosses, except that actor from Amistad. Her and Marjorie Harvey should teach a class!! I’d definitely sign up!!!????
Different strokes for different folks. I’d rather my kids have a father with character.
Yep. Thank God we have options in life.
when is her husband going to jail and for how long. why can’t she just manage to pick someone normal, sane and well adjusted to have babies by? all those different daddies and not one is really normal except maybe the second baby daddy with the fake marriage
yeah, her kids have just had too too many men to be in their lives all from her selfish romantic lifestyle that was forced on those kids
My wealthy landlord once suggested that I need to learn to get my hands a little dirty and put some folks in my pocket. He’s from India and shares that it’s the American way to acquire wealth. All the men Kimora seeks are dirty wealthy men.
That’s true but this gives him the latitude to claim in court that he legitimately did not have the intent to play a part in the scheme or conceal the funds…but not knowing the law is no excuse so the feds will probably turn him into a witness to stay out of jail.