Jeff Christensen/Reuters
A founding member of the Fugees music group and a Department of Justice official both took part in a scheme to “funnel tens of millions of dollars into the United States” in order to help a Malaysian fugitive influence government investigations, federal prosecutors wrote Friday. According to court documents reported on by ABC News, musician Prakazrel “Pras” Michel and former DOJ official George Higginbotham were named as members of a conspiracy involving a “web of corrupt Malaysian officials” and $4.5 billion money laundering scheme centering around a fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad that's rocked Malaysian politics, with the former prime minister who set up the fund now facing criminal charges. Higginbotham, who helped open the shell companies, reportedly pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to a bank on Friday for his role in laundering money through American and global bank accounts through shell companies opened in the U.S. to pressure officials to drop the investigation into the conspiracy. No public charges were filed against Michel. Asked why Michel wasn’t charged, the DOJ told ABC, “It’s an ongoing investigation.”