1MDB’s Jho Low paid US$20 million for Obama photo op, US rapper Pras Michel says

The ex-Fugees member says the Malaysian tycoon was willing to ‘spend any type of money’, but his ‘party guy’ reputation made it hard to get fundraiser invites

After paying Michel to be his ‘celebrity surrogate’, Low eventually got his chance to be photographed with Obama at a White House Christmas party

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Gigi Hadid and Jho Low attend an event in New York in October 2014. Photo: Getty Images for Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation via AFP

Published: 6:00am, 19 Apr 2023

Grammy-winning rapper Pras Michel told jurors on Tuesday at his illegal-lobbying trial that the party-boy Malaysian tycoon Jho Low – once a friend and now a fugitive – paid him US$20 million to get a photo with US President Barack Obama in 2012.

Michel told a federal jury in Washington that Low hired him to be a “celebrity surrogate” to get the photo. The rapper is accused of funnelling illegal donations from Low into Obama’s campaign and later illegally lobbying President Donald Trump’s administration to drop a US probe of Low’s alleged looting of billions of dollars from the Malaysian development fund 1MDB.

Michel, a member of the hip-hop band the Fugees, said he witnessed Low’s wild lifestyle filled with celebrities, nightclub, models and free-flowing cash. He described the tycoon as a “wealthy man willing to do anything, spend any type of money” to get his photo with Obama, but that Low’s reputation made him “too hot” get an invited to fundraisers. Michel said he would try to help, but at a price.

“I basically asked for US$1 million to begin to think about how I would get this photo,” Michel said. “I was going to try.”

Pras Michel, former member of the Fugees, exits federal court in Washington on April 3. Photo: Bloomberg

Ultimately, Low paid Michel US$20 million over nine months, which led to the tycoon getting photographed with Obama at a White House Christmas party, the rapper said.

During the first three weeks of the trial, prosecutors alleged Michel, 50, was driven by greed and pocketed US$18 million of the US$20 million that Low paid to gain access to Obama. They also say he made another US$70 million for his role in a scheme to lobby the Trump administration to drop its civil investigation of Low. Michel was later indicted along with Low, who remains at large and is believed to be in China.