Photo: Instagram
The Fugees rapper is in court fighting to reduce his child support.
By Rebekah Kuschmider — Written on Apr 18, 2019
Fugees rapper Pras Michel is facing scrutiny over his finances and on his social media accounts after going to court to attempt to have his child support payments lowered. Prakazrel “Pras” Michel has petitioned the court in Manhattan to lower his child support payments for his son Landon from $4800 per month to $500 per month.
Angela Severiano, Pas’s ex and mother of Landon claims he hasn’t made a child support payment since November of last year yet he has been posting photos of high-end purchases he’s made on social media. However, child support may be the least of Michel’s financial problems.
The rapper has faced legal repercussions on international corruption charges. He owes the federal government millions related to that. Not only that, his financial advisor has recently been sent to jail and Michel may have lost money in that situation as well.
Who is Pras Michel and what’s going on with his bank accounts? Read on for the details.
1. Pras
Michel grew up in New Jersey where he met Lauryn Hill at Columbia High School. The pair eventually met Wyclef Jean and started performing together as The Rap Translators, which were also known as the Tranzlator Crew. While recording with the Fugees in the 1990s, Michel attended Rutgers University and Yale University, pursuing a double major in Philosophy and Psychology. As the Fugees gained major success, Michel also pursued a solo career. Eventually, he also branched out into acting in a number of movies and videos.
Michel with The Fugees.
2. Custody suit
Michel keeps his personal life pretty private but things got heated in a child support battle in 2014. He and Angela Severiano ended up in court over the financial support for their son Landon. The pair wasn't serious when Landon was conceived in 2010, according to sources close to them. At the time, he was paying $3100 per month and Severiano wanted to increase it to $9000 to make affording her apartment with their son easier. There was also an issue of back payments dating back to the time of Landon’s birth and the pair couldn’t work out the details privately. At the time, friends said "He's not opposed to paying additional child support should the court order it based on the child's needs. He’s not fighting his child.”
At the time of the court fight, he was trying to work on causes related to global poverty and the bad publicity resulted in him having to give up an opportunity to speak at the UN.
Michel was involved in polictal advocacy.
3. Money laundering
More recently, Michel has failed charged and civil forfeiture claims from the federal government over his role in helping a fugitive Malaysian financier embezzle money and try to influence a criminal investigation. According to USA Today, “Michel was engaged by the brother of Jho Low, a fugitive Malaysian financier charged by the Justice Department last year with embezzling money from the fund to pay for a luxurious lifestyle, to join the illicit lobbying effort. It says Michel helped by opening bank accounts under false pretenses to finance the scheme. Justice Department officials are trying to recover roughly $38 million from Michel that they say can be connected to that effort.” Other celebrities got mixed up with Low as well, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Miranda Kerr.
Michel was named in a significant corruption investigation.
4. Insta-goals
Whatever Michel’s financial straights. he isn’t skimping on luxuries for himself. On his Instagram page, he posted a photo of a Lamborghini estimated to be worth $250,000, with the caption “Stuntin’ on Rodeo in the new lambo…Italian everything my friends.” In addition, he posted a picture of a watch with the caption ““#Patekkphilippe.”
That watch could be worth as much as $300,000.
His ex's lawyer quetsioned how he can afford cars but not child support.
5. Child support
The pricey goods on his social media feeds aren’t sitting well with Severiano, whose lawyer says Michel hasn’t paid child support since November. Michel’s lawyer claims that’s due to confusion in the wake of his money manager’s arrest. He also indicated that the money manager had stolen from Michel and he can no longer afford the $4800 per month he’s been paying to support his son. He petitioned to have his support reduced to $500 per month.
The watch in this photo is worth up to $300,000.
The judge on the case has scheduled the couple to be back in court in July to decide whether or not to grant the reduction.
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.