Gates recounts dodgy finances
THE US government’s star witness in the financial fraud trial of Paul Manafort testified on Monday he embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the former Trump campaign chairman – and told jurors he and Manafort committed crimes together.
Rick Gates related his tale as prosecutors looked to provide jurors with damning testimony from a co-conspirator they say carried out offshore tax-evasion and fraud scheme on behalf of his former boss.
Gates has been regarded as a crucial witness ever since he pleaded guilty this year to two felony charges and agreed to co-operate in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.
The testimony brought Gates face-to-face with Manafort, his longtime boss and fellow Trump campaign aide.
His testimony, given in short, clipped answers follows that of vendors who detailed Manafort’s luxurious spending and financial professionals who told jurors how the defendant hid millions of dollars in offshore accounts.
Gates told jurors he siphoned off the money without Manafort’s knowledge by filing false expense reports. He also admitted to concealing millions in foreign bank accounts on Manafort’s behalf and to falsifying documents to help his former boss.
“We didn’t report the income or the foreign bank accounts,” Gates told jurors, noting he knew he and Manafort were committing crimes.
Gates read off the names of more than a dozen shell companies he and Manafort set up in Cyprus, St Vincent and the Grenadines and the UK to stash the proceeds of Ukrainian political consulting work.
Gates, who also served in a senior role in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, is expected to face aggressive cross-examination once prosecutors are finished questioning him.
Manafort’s defence signalled they intend to blame Gates for any illegal conduct.
Gates told jurors that in exchange for his truthful testimony prosecutors agreed not to oppose his attorney’s request for probation at a later date. He faces up to 71 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.
The criminal case has nothing to do with either man’s work for the Trump campaign and there’s been no discussion during the trial about whether the Trump campaign co-ordinated with Russia – the central question Mueller’s team has tried to answer.