Mueller Looking To Use Money Laundering Charges To Flip Manafort: Report
The squeeze is coming.
Special Counsel investigators are attempting to use money laundering and other financial crimes to persuade Paul Manafort to cooperate with their investigation into the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia, according to a new Reuters report.
“Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team is examining Manafort’s financial and real estate records in New York as well as his involvement in Ukrainian politics,” Reuters reported.
Included in their case are three New York properties that Manafort purchased between 2006 and 2013, one of which is in Trump Tower. Manafort paid in cash for the properties through shell companies and later took out mortgages on the properties. That tactic is regularly used by people who are laundering money because it obscures the origins or illegally gained funds.
“Manafort is seen as a key figure in the investigation because of his senior role in the campaign and his participation in a June 2016 meeting that included the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., close adviser Jared Kushner and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya,” Reuters notes.
Also of note, former US Attorney Preet Bharara was investigating Manafort’s real estate transactions before Donald Trump fired him in March.
Special Counsel Mueller has now assumed control of Bharara investigation, according to Reuters.
For years, Manafort worked as a consultant to a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine.
And a recent report by the New York Times revealed that Manafort shortly before Manafort went to work for the Trump campaign, he owed $17 million to Russian organizations.
[image via Twitter]
