New Charges Filed Against Manafort and Gates

Courtesy of Creative Commons

By Abigail Royle 2/24/2018

Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, President Donald Trump’s  former campaign officials, are facing additional charges against them. 12 charges were already filed against them in Washington DC; and on Thursday, Special Counsel Robert Mueller filed a 37-page indictment in Virginia, accusing Manafort and Gates of more crimes. The indictment accuses the two of laundering $30 million, failing to pay taxes for almost 10 years, and fraudulently using real estate to receive $20 million in loans. The accusations mean Manafort is facing 18 new charges in Virginia while Gates is facing 23 new charges.

Jason Maloni, Manafort’s spokesman, says Manafort “is innocent of the allegations set out in the newly filed indictments and he is confident that he will be acquitted of all charges.”

Prosecutors point to small island nations where Manafort and Gates have offshore accounts from which they are accused of funneling millions of dollars. Prosecutors allege the men hid “the existence and ownership of the foreign companies and bank accounts.” Manafort and Gates are accused of using the money from the offshore accounts to pay for home improvements and refinancing their mortgages. Prosecutors claim the defendants were able to defraud the banks because of millions of dollars earned by the duo’s Ukrainian political work and lobbying.

If convicted, Manafort and Gates could receive up to 30 years in prison and be fined as much as $1 million. The prosecutors told the men that they could face the Virginia indictment in D.C. where their case is already open.