Fourth arrested in campaign finance case

WASHINGTON — David Correia, the fourth defendant in a campaign finance case involving business associates of President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, was arrested Wednesday morning at a New York City airport, officials said.

Correia has been charged with participating in a scheme to use foreign money to build political support for a fledgling recreational marijuana business in Nevada and other states, according to an indictment unsealed last week that also charged Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman with conspiracy and making false statements to campaign finance regulators.

The other three defendants were quickly arrested by the FBI, but Correia’s whereabouts were unclear until Wednesday morning. Correia was expected to make a brief court appearance Wednesday, and he and another person charged in the case, Andrey Kukushkin, are due back in court today.

Parnas and Fruman were originally expected to appear in court today as well, but their hearing has been pushed back to next week. Fruman was released on bond Wednesday, but Parnas remains in jail for the time being.

“The defendant was taken into custody by the FBI at JFK earlier this morning,” said Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan.

Parnas and Fruman, who had been helping Giuliani investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, were arrested a week ago at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, where they had one-way tickets on a flight out of the country, officials said.

Giuliani’s business dealings with the men are part of the federal investigation, according to people familiar with the matter.

A grand jury subpoena has been issued to former congressman Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican, who interacted with Giuliani, Parnas and Fruman. Parnas and Fruman are accused of violating campaign finance laws by making donations to Sessions’ campaign that exceeded federal limits.

Giuliani and Sessions have denied wrongdoing. Parnas and Fruman have not formally entered pleas yet to the charges.