NYT: Feds Are Investigating Financial Deals Involving Manafort, Son-In-Law

UNITED STATES - JULY 19: Paul Manafort, advisor to Donald Trump, is seen on the floor of the Quicken Loans Arena at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, July 19, 2016. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll... UNITED STATES - JULY 19: Paul Manafort, advisor to Donald Trump, is seen on the floor of the Quicken Loans Arena at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, July 19, 2016. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images) MORE LESS
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Financial dealings involving President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and Manafort’s son-in-law are under scrutiny by federal investigators, the New York Times reported Friday.

Two sources close to the matter told the Times that Manafort bankrolled real estate purchases of luxury apartments and homes in New York and California in collaboration with his son-in-law Jeffrey Yohai, who was sued by a former investor for defrauding him.

The sources said it was unclear if this particular investigation was part of the broader federal probe into Russia’s election interference and possible collusion between Trump associates and Russian operatives. Manafort is under scrutiny in that probe, as well as for a tangle of dealings including his business activities in Russia, whether he appropriately filed foreign lobbying disclosures, and the millions of dollars in secret cash payments he reportedly received for his work for a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party.

Manafort and Yohai declined the Times’ request for comment.

The longtime GOP fixer’s multi-million dollar real estate deals were already known to be of interest to federal agents. NBC reported that investigators subpoenaed records related to a $3.5 million mortgage he took out on his country home in the Hamptons through a shell company named Summerbreeze LLC, which was created the day he resigned from the Trump campaign. The DOJ has also requested Manafort’s bank records from Citizens Financial Group, as the Wall Street Journal reported.

What’s new in the Times report is that Manafort and his wife allegedly took out a series of mortgages on their properties totaling $20 million over the past year, and that he allegedly funneled millions of dollars to finance luxury properties that his son-in-law purchased through shell companies of his own.

A fashion photographer who said he invested $2.9 million with Yohai has sued him for allegedly creating the false illusion of a “quick and large return” on his investment, according to the Times. Andrea Manafort, sister of Yohai’s wife Jessica, said in text messages that were hacked, leaked online, and obtained by the Times that she believed Yohai was “running a Ponzi scheme.”

Yohai denied the accusations in a court filing, according to the newspaper.

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