WSJ: Manafort Faces Another Money Laundering Probe By NY Prosecutors

Paul Manafort appears on stage ahead of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Wednesday, June 22, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
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Yet another powerful prosecutorial unit is putting former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s finances under a microscope in search of evidence of potential money laundering: the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office.

According to a Tuesday report in the Wall Street Journal, that investigation is being conducted in collaboration with special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, which is looking at possible money laundering by the longtime GOP operative. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office also has shared information with the special counsel for a separate state probe into Manafort’s finances.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Monteleoni, a former member of the money-laundering unit who now serves on the public corruption team, is helping to spearhead the inquiry out of the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, according to the Journal.

These overlapping probes represent only one facet of the investigations into Manafort’s political work and financial transactions. Federal investigators are also looking into his multiple bank accounts in the tax haven of Cyprus, his belated registration this year as a foreign agent for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party, the millions of dollars he reportedly owes to pro-Russia interests, and his expansive network of real estate holdings.

Manafort is one of the most prominent former members of the Trump campaign being investigated for possible financial wrongdoing and ties to Russian officials. Others reportedly include former national security adviser Michael Flynn and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top White House adviser, Jared Kushner.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn is separately looking into the Kushner family’s real estate company, Kushner Companies, for its use of a federal program that allows foreigners to obtain green cards in exchange for investments of $500,000 or more.

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