This Monday, Academy Award winner Leonardo DiCaprio testified in the trial of Fugees’ rapper Pras Michel. The rapper is accused of helping launder money allegedly stolen from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund (1MDB) by Jho Low, a Malaysian businessman. Michel pleaded not guilty.
DiCaprio is not being accused of wrongdoing and took the stand to testify for about an hour about his relationship with Michel and Low.
According to CNN, the presence of the actor in the courtroom caught the jury members’ attention. The actor dressed in a blue suit spoke slowly and quietly while testifying.
In his testimony, the actor stated that he met Michel in 1990 and recalled a possible meeting at his home for a thanksgiving meal. About Low, he recalled that their relationship was only social, recounting “a multitude of lavish parties” many of Michel also allegedly attended.
Low offered to fund a film for DiCaprio, he testified. Background checks were conducted for Low and green light was given to the actor to go further with it.
According to the prosecutors, Low allegedly laundered 1MDB money through a film production company, Red Granite Pictures. The company reportedly used that money to fund films, including The Wolf of Wall Street.
DiCaprio testified that Low gave money to his environmental foundation by buying art in fundraising and donations. He also testified that he stopped talking to him around 2015 after his representatives found an article alleging that the businessman was using “illegal funding from Malaysia and a multitude of other places.”
In 2016, assets were seized by prosecutors from The Wolf of Wall Street also, a Picasso painting gifted to DiCaprio that an associate of Low allegedly bought with stolen money.
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