Leonardo DiCaprio Testifies In Pras Michel's Money Laundering Trial

Leonardo DiCaprio was called on to testify in the international money laundering case against Fugees rapper Pras Michel.

On Monday, April 3, the Don't Look Up actor took the witness stand to testify about his dealings with Jho Low, a Malaysian businessman who's been accused of stealing billions of dollars from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Low allegedly used his connections with celebrities like DiCaprio to launder money without their knowledge in order to keep up his fancy lifestyle. Since Low is currently on the run, Michel was forced to face charges of participating in a scheme to launder money from foreign banks to the U.S. by himself.

“It was a causal conversation about what party he was in support of, I told him what party I was in support of,” DiCaprio said of his discussion with Low, according to CNN. “And he told me that he, or he and a group, were going to make a significant contribution to the Democratic Party."

“I said ‘wow, that’s a lot of money,’” DiCaprio said after revealing the donation was around $20 million or $30 million.

Low notably offered to fund DiCaprio's 2013 film Wolf of Wall Street. He said he had his team vet Low and their findings didn't turn up anything negative at the time. They didn't think anything bad of Low until they discovered an article in 2015 that claimed Low's funds were from "Malaysia and other places." DiCaprio cut ties with Low and is still working on refunding the money he received from him.

The 1MDB scandal first emerged back in 2009. Pras is accused of putting millions of Low's illegal dollars into the presidential campaign of former President Barack Obama during his 2012 campaign. He allegedly used about 20 proxy contributors to shield the real origin of the funds. In 2021, Pras' indictment was updated to include allegations that he initiated an unauthorized operation to convince the president's administration and the Department of Justice to drop their investigation into Low.

Pras Michel has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Th trial is expected to last for the majority of April.