Paul Manafort had pledged almost $12 million in properties for bail, and the federal court released him from house arrest today.
But Manafort’s widespread property holdings may bring him down, as published accounts assert his own son-in-law is ratting him out.
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Close reading of Manafort’s pending indictments and published accounts link Manafort’s New York City real estate/money laundering scheme with his son-in-law’s failed property deals in California and elsewhere. New York law enforcement is investigating Manafort for possible state charges of money laundering and bank fraud, which Trump could not pardon.
Manafort’s indictment says: “Manafort defrauded the banks that loaned him the money..” But Mueller did not file federal bank fraud charges. New York State is now examining that issue.
For instance, Manafort, through a shell company and a Cyprus money source, bought a Brooklyn brownstone for $3 million cash in 2012. In 2015, Manafort sought to borrow cash against that property. He lied to the bank and said the money would be used from construction on that property. That allowed him to obtain a larger loan than otherwise.
Instead, Manafort used hundreds of thousands of dollars from that loan to make a down payment on a California property, where Yohai, Manafort’s son-in-law burnt through the money, and plummeted into bankruptcy through bad real estate investments.
Manafort also advised Yohai to lie to a bank, and claim he and Manafort’s daughter Jessica lived in a property that Manafort was actually leasing out on Airbnb. Co-defendant Richard Gates phonied up a document to support the lies. The bank approved a larger loan based on those statements.
Manafort’s daughter Jessica divorced Jeffery Yohai in August 2017.
New York State law enforcement is investigating whether these acts, and Manafort’s similar conduct constituted state crimes.
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