Additional charges possible against Giuliani associates
NEW YORK — Rudy Giuliani may not be out of the woods yet.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are considering more charges against criminally indicted associates of the former New York mayor in connection with a company that gave him a lucrative business deal, according to a report Monday.
The charges being mulled would be brought by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York over allegations that ex-Giuliani pal Lev Parnas and at least one of his partners misled potential investors for his Florida-based company, Fraud Guarantee, sources told CNN.
Fraud Guarantee, which pitched itself as an insurance provider for fraudwary companies, paid Giuliani $500,000 in August 2018 — just as the former mayor, Parnas and Igor Fruman began pursuing their wide-ranging effort to dig up dirt on Joe Biden and other Democratic rivals in Ukraine on President Donald Trump’s behalf.
The feds charged Parnas, Fruman and two other men last year with orchestrating a sweeping pro-Trump campaign finance scheme that overlapped with the Ukraine scandal that prompted the president’s impeachment.
As part of an ongoing investigation that produced the charges against Parnas, prosecutors have looked into any criminal role Giuliani may have played in the scheme, particularly as it relates to his Trump-endorsed effort to remove former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s apparent increased scrutiny of Fraud Guarantee brings another element of concern for Giuliani.
According to CNN’s sources, investigators are looking into whether Parnas and other representatives for the curiously named company pitched potential investors with inflated bookkeeping numbers and false information about how proceeds would be used.
However, Bob Costello, an attorney for Giuliani, said his client had nothing to worry about.
“Mayor Giuliani had no involvement in any marketing and never authorized anyone to make any representations on his behalf,” Costello told the New York Daily News. “Mayor Giuliani has nothing to do with this.”
Giuliani has said he was paid $500,000 by Fraud Guarantee to offer legal and business advice, though the specifics of those services have not been explained.
A spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment.
The feds have signaled in recent court filings that more charges against Parnas or others involved in the case are likely, though they have offered no timeline for such actions.
Parnas, Fruman and the two other defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Parnas, who broke with Giuliani after his indictment and turned over troves of documents to House impeachment investigators, is prepared for more charges if push comes to shove, according to his attorney, Joseph Bondy.