Mueller files new charges for Manafort and Gates
Former Trump aides accused of bank fraud
WASHINGTON – Special counsel Robert Mueller filed a barrage of new criminal charges on Thursday against two of President Trump’s former campaign aides, accusing them of lying to banks to obtain millions of dollars in loans.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates already faced charges over their work for a pro-Russian faction in Ukraine. In an indictment revealed Thursday, prosecutors also charged the men with tax fraud, bank fraud and failing to report overseas bank accounts, which they used to hide millions of dollars in income from U.S. authorities while paying for cars and homes.
The spate of new charges could intensify legal pressure on Manafort and Gates, who have emerged as central figures in Mueller’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Prosecutors charged that Manafort and Gates funneled millions of dollars from their work in Ukraine into foreign bank accounts and concealed it from U.S. tax authorities. Instead, prosecutors said, Manafort “used his hidden overseas wealth to enjoy a lavish lifestyle in the United States, without paying taxes on that income.”
They said more than $75 million passed through the offshore bank accounts, and that they laundered more than $30 million of income.
Prosecutors also said Manafort and Gates obtained more than $20 million in loans by lying about their business income and debts.