Manafort, Gates hit with new charges

WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller filed a vastly expanded criminal indictment against President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager and his partner Thursday, more than doubling the charges they face.

Paul Manafort and Richard Gates were first charged with 12 counts Oct. 30. Both pleaded not guilty, although Gates is expected to plead guilty and testify against Manafort.

The new indictment includes 16 counts related to false individual income tax returns, seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts, five counts of bank fraud conspiracy and four counts of bank fraud.

Manafort and Gates had worked on behalf of Ukraine’s pro-Russia government, but that work Gates dried up after President Viktor Yanukovych fled the country in 2014, according to the indictment.

Afterward, the indictment says, they secured more than $20 million in fraudulent loans by “falsely inflating Manafort’s and his company’s income and by failing to disclose existing debt.”

The alleged scheme lasted through 2016, according to the indictment, but it does not mention their work on the Trump campaign or any cooperation with Russian operatives who used social media, hacking and other tactics to meddle in the U.S. presidential race.

On Tuesday, an associate of Gates pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in the course of the Russia investigation. Alex van der Zwaan, a former lawyer, admitted to lying about his contacts with Gates.