I'ma Bring Down the Ruckus
March 7, 2023 3:52 PM Subscribe
The Fugee, the Fugitive and the FBI: How rapper Pras Michél got entangled in one of the century’s great financial scandals, mediated a high-stakes negotiation between global superpowers and was accused of major crimes. [Bloomberg; ungated]
Welp, that explains what happened to the Fugees reunion tour.
posted by fiercekitten at 6:48 PM on March 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by fiercekitten at 6:48 PM on March 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
Ayyyy what's up 1MDB
posted by cendawanita at 7:08 PM on March 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by cendawanita at 7:08 PM on March 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
I knew that there was a lot of hinky stuff around Jho Low and The Wolf of Wall Street, but I had no idea that the Justice Department might seize the movie itself. This whole story, man...
...hey, you know who would be great to direct?
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:01 PM on March 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
...hey, you know who would be great to direct?
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:01 PM on March 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
Hang on--he called the FBI and told on himself?
posted by yellowcandy at 9:02 PM on March 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by yellowcandy at 9:02 PM on March 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
When I started reading this I was ready to be pretty sympathetic to Pras, but that faded as the piece went on. I was trying to wrap my head around how getting millions of dollars in payouts for brokering a few meetings wouldn't have raised alarm bells for him, but then based on the Wirecard story down the page maybe I shouldn't be surprised.
It seems like once you pass from being merely rich to being super-rich or hyper-rich, most ways of making money start to take on characteristics of low grade criminal enterprises. If the answer to 'Is this legal?' isn't 'Only in a couple pretty shady places' or 'Yes, because we specifically bought someone off to make it so' then you're just not going to get a proper return on your investment.
Even though she's at the periphery of this story, I'm still stuck on Kim K's thinking it's normal enough to have someone give you a $300k gift out of nowhere that she turned around and bought a Ferrari with it and didn't seem to think about it again until the FBI came calling. As much as there are specific acts of illegality here, it's a whole culture around hyper-wealth that's facilitating this stuff. Unless that sort of wealth gets taxed out of existence this kind of thing is going to happen again and again and again.
posted by nangua at 1:59 AM on March 8, 2023 [5 favorites]
It seems like once you pass from being merely rich to being super-rich or hyper-rich, most ways of making money start to take on characteristics of low grade criminal enterprises. If the answer to 'Is this legal?' isn't 'Only in a couple pretty shady places' or 'Yes, because we specifically bought someone off to make it so' then you're just not going to get a proper return on your investment.
Even though she's at the periphery of this story, I'm still stuck on Kim K's thinking it's normal enough to have someone give you a $300k gift out of nowhere that she turned around and bought a Ferrari with it and didn't seem to think about it again until the FBI came calling. As much as there are specific acts of illegality here, it's a whole culture around hyper-wealth that's facilitating this stuff. Unless that sort of wealth gets taxed out of existence this kind of thing is going to happen again and again and again.
posted by nangua at 1:59 AM on March 8, 2023 [5 favorites]
Ayyyy what's up 1MDB
posted by cendawanita at 7:08 PM on March 7
It's the grift that keeps on grifting
posted by chavenet at 3:27 AM on March 8, 2023
posted by cendawanita at 7:08 PM on March 7
It's the grift that keeps on grifting
posted by chavenet at 3:27 AM on March 8, 2023
🎤🎧me say many money, me say many many many
All these years I thought Fugees were rapping nonsense in "Too many mics", but they were actually charting a Pras life plan.
...good grief, the layers and players in this story.
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:39 AM on March 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
All these years I thought Fugees were rapping nonsense in "Too many mics", but they were actually charting a Pras life plan.
...good grief, the layers and players in this story.
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:39 AM on March 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
Wyclef's Haiti charity, Lauryn's taxes, and now this (bonus: Fugee affiliate John Forte)--everyone wants to be a cowboy.
posted by box at 6:54 AM on March 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by box at 6:54 AM on March 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by EvaDestruction at 6:43 PM on March 7, 2023 [3 favorites]