Why Leonardo DiCaprio testified at trial of Fugees rapper

NEW YORK — Leonardo DiCaprio testified Monday on the trial of former Fugee rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, who’s accused of conspiring to funnel cash from a Malaysian state fund to Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection marketing campaign. Here is a take a look at the primary characters within the worldwide scandal, and the fund that fueled it.

THE PRAS PROSECUTION

Michel was a founding member of the influential Nineteen Nineties hip-hop group the Fugees, together with better-known bandmates Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean, who had main hits with “Ready or Not” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song.” Prosecutors allege Michel conspired with Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho to funnel cash from 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad), a Malaysian state fund established in 2009 to advertise improvement, to Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection marketing campaign by way of straw donors. Prosecutors have stated as a lot as $100 million went by way of Michel, a 50-year-old New York native who has maintained his innocence. His trial started Thursday.

THE FUGITIVE

DiCaprio testified within the case due to his ties to Low, the alleged architect of the scandal, who has additionally been indicted within the US however remained a world fugitive as Michel went to trial. The Malaysian financier who helped oversee 1MDB used it to bankroll an extravagant and celebrity-centric way of life. He is alleged to have steered billions towards property in Beverly Hills and Manhattan, a superyacht, a non-public jet and lots of different splashy purchases. The fund paid for a party for Low the place performers included Jamie Foxx, Chris Brown, Ludacris, Busta Ryhmes and Pharrell Williams. Britney Spears jumped out of a cake.

LEO, PICASSO AND ‘THE WOLF OF WALL STREET’

DiCaprio, who will not be accused of any wrongdoing, has recognized Michel for the reason that Nineteen Nineties, and Low professionally and socially for years. The Oscar-winning actor testified that he met and befriended Low at a party in Las Vegas in 2010. Low gave DiCaprio presents, which he has since returned, together with a Picasso portray valued at $3.2 million and a Jean-Michel Basquiat collage valued at $9.2 million. The actor has since returned each artworks. Low has been an everyday donor to DiCaprio’s charitable basis.

Low would use cash from the fund to finance the Martin Scorsese movie “The Wolf of Wall Street,” which starred DiCaprio. DiCaprio testified that he had his staff and the studio vet Low first, they usually discovered him to be “a legitimate business person wanting to invest in the movie.” The movie’s producers included Riza Aziz, stepson of then-Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

NAJIB RAZAK’S ROLE

The prime minister grew to become chair of 1MDB when it was established in 2009 with the purported goal of accelerating overseas funding. It shortly racked up greater than $12 billion in debt. The fund become the epicenter of a large worldwide corruption scandal. The U.S. Justice Department has stated greater than half of $8 billion raised by bond gross sales was stolen and siphoned off, a revelation uncovered in 2015 when 1000’s of paperwork have been leaked.

Najib, who investigators stated took lots of of tens of millions to fund his reelection marketing campaign and repay politicians, has denied any wrongdoing and fired the lawyer common investigating him. Malaysian common elections in 2018 ousted Najib and his social gathering. In 2020, Najib was discovered responsible of seven costs of corruption and sentenced to 12 years in jail. His appeals have been unsuccessful. Najib was acquitted of one other cost at his most up-to-date trial.

OTHER PLAYERS

In 2020, Goldman Sachs acknowledged its position within the embezzlement scheme and paid out greater than $2.3 billion as a part of a plea cope with the U.S. authorities. The agency additionally reached a $3.9 billion settlement with the federal government of Malaysia. In March, a former Goldman Sachs banker named Roger Ng was sentenced in Brooklyn to 10 years in jail for his position in plundering the fund.