Mueller Adds Tax, Bank Fraud Charges Against Manafort, Gates

2018/2/23 1:52:57

UBO: Special Counsel Robert Mueller is using strong pressure against Paul Manafort, who served for some time as campaign manager of Donald Trump, in what appears to be an attempt to force Manafort to divulge details of whether the approximately $75 million that Manafort allegedly illegally laundered is related to Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election, illegal funds being laundered for Viktor Yanukovych and the Party of Regions – or some of both. With Manafort’s long-time associate Rick Gates reported to have made a deal with Mueller for cooperation, the insider bets are that Manafort will eventually capitulate. No matter what happens when Manafort begins what are expected to be multiple hearings for the U.S. House and Senate committees, the results are expected to be echoed in Ukraine’s parliamentary and presidential elections.

 


By David Voreacos and Andrew M Harris for Bloomberg, Feb 22, 2018

 

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his former deputy, Rick Gates were indicted on new tax and bank fraud changes as U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller mounted a fresh legal attack to strengthen his case against the men.

 

The new indictment adds to one filed Oct. 27 in Washington that charged the men with failing to disclose their political consulting work in Ukraine and laundering millions of dollars. Manafort’s attorneys had attacked that indictment by saying Mueller unfairly accused them of money laundering for failing to register their foreign lobbying work.

 

But the new indictment doesn’t include money laundering and failing to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a rare criminal use of a statute more typically used in civil cases. The FARA charge was underpinning the money-laundering counts in the first indictment, and removing both charges could ease the path for prosecutors at trial.

Mueller filed the new charges in Virginia because both men have residences there and prosecutors lacked venue to file the tax case in Washington.

 

Prosecutors say that more than $75 million flowed through offshore accounts controlled by Manafort. Manafort, with Gates’s help, laundered more than $30 million in income that he had concealed from the U.S. Treasury Department and Justice Department, they said. Gates collected about $3 million in income that he, too, concealed, they said.

 

To access original of this article and an associated video, link below:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/article ... ank-fraud-in-russia-probe

 

Photo courtesy article source

 

 

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