Trump Campaign Manager Laundered Money From Russia-Backed Party In Ukraine: Report
Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort laundered payments from the from a Russian-backed Ukrainian political party using offshore accounts, according to a new report by the Washington Post.
Manafort is being accused of using offshore accounts in Belize and Kyrgystan to launder $750,000 from the party of the former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych who fled to Russia after being forced to leave office.
According to the Washington Post, “The new documents, if legitimate, stem from business ties between the Trump aide, Paul Manafort, and the party of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, who enjoyed Moscow’s backing while he was in power. He has been in hiding in Russia since being overthrown by pro-Western protesters in 2014, and is wanted in Ukraine on corruption charges.”
The new documents were released within hours of FBI Director Comey’s testimony in front of Congress confirming that the FBI is investigating the ties between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
Manafort worked for Yanukovych’s party in Ukraine for about a decade. Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign when his “name surfaced in connection with secret payments totaling $12.7 million by Yanukovych’s party.”
According to the Washington Post report, “Serhiy Leshchenko, a lawmaker and journalist, released a copy of an invoice on letterhead from Manafort’s consulting company, based in Alexandria, Va., dated Oct. 14, 2009, to a Belize-based company for $750,000 for the sale of 501 computers.”
“On the same day, Manafort’s name is listed next to a $750,000 entry in the ‘black ledger,’ which was considered a party slush fund. The list was found at the party headquarters in the turmoil after Ukraine’s 2014 revolution. The ledger entries about Manafort were released by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, a government law enforcement agency, last August,” the Washington Post continued.
You can read the full Washington Post report here.
