The real estate holdings of Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, are reportedly the subject of investigations by the New York attorney general and the Manhattan district attorney.
Both the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News reported over the weekend on the investigations into millions of dollars in property owned by Manafort, a longtime lobbyist who ran the Trump campaign between April and August 2016. WNYC reported back in March that Manafort had a pattern of using shell companies to purchase multi-million dollar residences entirely with cash, including an apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and declined Bloomberg’s requests for comment. A spokesperson for Manafort told the publication that any leaks about ongoing investigations would be a “crime.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that an investigation out of Schneiderman’s office would focus on whether Manafort’s transactions were used for money-laundering, while Vance’s would look at any possible fraud.
In the mid-2000s, Manafort was paid by a Russian billionaire to develop a strategy to advance the interests of President Vladimir Putin, and he also was reportedly paid millions of dollars off the books as a consultant for a pro-Russia Ukrainian political party. Manafort, who is also under investigation by the FBI for possibly colluding with Russia to help Trump win the election, has denied any wrongdoing.
Manafort’s spokesman said in April that the former campaign chairman was planning to register with the Justice Department as a foreign agent. He does not appear to have done so yet.
What I read was he has an interesting habit of buying NYC properties for cash, like a few million, then taking out a mortgage on the building and selling it. It makes sense if you have a lot of money to launder. But there could be another, more innocent reason—maybe he just likes initialing mortgage documents or something. It’ll be interesting to hear his explanation.
That’s a perfectly cromulent explanation. I’m satisfied…that Mr. Schneiderman is a bulldog, as is Mr. Vance. This ain’t over yet.
It’s through NY AG Schneiderman’s investigation that the number of defendants in this case will exceed 70…probably even 100. Schneiderman and Bharara will roll up the entire DT business enterprise, RU mob and anything in-between. It’s all because of the Trump’s Razor approach to doing business.
I am sure the publications are curled up in a fetal position, quivering with fear.