Updated as of 10/18/22 at 10:23am E.T: Representatives of David Kenner, the lawyer who is defending Pras Michel in his upcoming trial, shared Michel’s witness list with The Root. Of the 23 people named who may have to testify, two are former presidents: Barack Obama and Donald Trump. Read the entire list below:
Bekkedam, Barry – former financial advisor to Mr. Michel
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Broidy, Elliott – Political consultant, former Chair of RNC Finance Committee
Carson, Ben – former Secretary of Housing and Urban development
Gouzer, Loic– an official at Christie’s auction house
Higginbotham, Azadeh – Wife of George Higginbotham
Higginbotham, George – former legal counsel to Mr. Michel
Hilliard, Erica – Assistant to Elliot Broidy at Broidy Capital
Johnson, Jeh – former head of Homeland Security
Kelley, John– former POTUS Chief of Staff
Lidsky, Harry – FBI Investigator
Lum-Davis, Nicki
Malone, Rich – Financial expert for Defense
Moscowitz, Marc– former financial advisor to Mr. Michel
Obama, Barack – Former President
Richardson, Neville – producer director former financial advisor of Mr. Michel
Ross, Helene – office manager to Bekkadem’s consulting company (FCBOC)
Rousseau, Joel– promoter and friend of Mr. Michel
Sessions, Jeff – Former U.S. Attorney General
Trump, Donald – Former President
Wengei, Guo – PRC dissident
White, Frank – Former Presidential Fundraiser
Wynn, Steve – Hotel and Casino owner
Zitman, Andrew – Supervisory FBI Special Agent
On November 4th, Fugees member Pras Michel is set to go to trial. The Root has previously reported that the artist is facing federal money laundering charges. Michel has pleaded not guilty. According to Politico’s Playbook, over seventy people are being prepped as tentative government witnesses.
The list includes numerous Trump officials as well as actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Apparently, his 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street” was partially funded by money that prosecutors claim was looted from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. Back in 2019, Michel pleaded not guilty to federal charges of conspiracy and falsifying records.
The Justice Department believes Michel was one of the many affiliates of Jho Low and 1MDB, a wealth fund that championed economic development in Malaysia. Low is being accused of stealing from the “slush fund” valued at $4.5 billion.
Allegedly, Michel received somewhere in between $8-$40 million for helping Low. That same year, DiCaprio provided secret testimony to a Washington, D.C. grand jury about the supposed role he played in the scheme. He was labeled a witness to an alleged conspiracy that used money from the 1MDB fund to finance The Wolf of Wall Street through its connections to the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.
The Trump officials that are also possible witnesses include former national security adviser H.R. McMaster, former White House chief of staff John Kelly and former deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger. The former RNC deputy finance chair and lobbyist Elliott Broidy is also a tentative witness.
In 2020, he pleaded guilty to serving as an unregistered foreign agent aiding Malaysian and Chinese interests. Broidy was charged in the federal investigation regarding 1MDB but Trump pardoned him in 2021.
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