Charges against Cohen may be coming

NEW YORK — Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, could be charged by the end of the month with bank fraud in his dealings with the taxi industry and with committing other financial crimes, two people familiar with the federal probe said Monday.

The people confirmed reports that federal prosecutors in Manhattan are considering charging Cohen after months of speculation.

The New York Times reported Sunday that, based on anonymous sources, prosecutors have been focusing on more than $20 million in loans obtained by taxi businesses that Cohen and his family own.

Prosecutors have subpoenaed records from Sterling National Bank, one of the institutions that loaned Cohen money with his ownership in taxi cabs as collateral, one of the people said. The material was sought because it’s suspected Cohen falsified some of the paperwork, the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

Absent a quick resolution, it’s believed prosecutors would put off a decision on how to go forward with the case until after the midterm elections in compliance with an informal Justice Department policy of avoiding bringing prosecutions that could influence voters.

Both the U.S. attorney’s office and an attorney for Cohen, Lanny Davis, declined to comment Monday. A spokesman for Sterling declined to comment.

Davis did reveal over the weekend that he’s been having conversations with John Dean, the White House lawyer who helped bring down President Richard Nixon. Davis said Monday that he sees major parallels between Cohen and Dean and that he wanted to hear what Dean had learned from Watergate and his perspective on what Cohen is going through. Cohen