USA TODAY International Edition
Mueller inquiry may turn a profit
Manafort prosecution likely to yield millions
WASHINGTON – Sometime soon, federal authorities will begin selling off what’s left of Paul Manafort’s life, a small fortune amassed through a decade of illicit lobbying work. When they do, the investigation into Russian election interference stands to breach an unusual milestone: bringing in more money than it has cost.
But first, lawyers working for special counsel Robert Mueller must reach a deal with another set of opponents, including the Trump Tower condo board.
A handful of banks and the Trump Tower Residential Condominium Board have lined up to argue that they’re entitled to parts of the properties and investment accounts valued at about $26.7 million that the former Trump campaign chairman was forced to give up as part of plea agreement with Mueller’s team. Included in the package of New York real estate is a $7.3 million compound in the Hamptons and a $3.8 million apartment in Trump Tower.
Many of the claims could be resolved as early as this week, according to court documents.
When they are, the investigation Trump has dismissed as a witch hunt and a waste of money will more or less have paid for itself. Mueller’s inquiry has posted costs of about $25 million. Exactly how much the government stands to collect will turn on how much of his property must be turned over to banks and others, and to New York’s fluctuating real estate market.
In addition to Manafort’s fortune, the government stands to collect about $1.9 million from other people charged as a result of Mueller’s investigation.
Patrick Cotter, a former federal prosecutor who oversaw complex cases of organized crime, said the leftover money, though substantial,
In addition to Manafort’s fortune, the government stands to collect about $1.9 million from other people charged as a result of Mueller’s inquiry.
represents “icing on the cake for the government whose overriding priority is always a conviction.”
“Rarely is there money sufficient to make a big recovery,” said Cotter, who is not a party to the Manafort case. “It’s only when all the fighting is over involving the banks, family and every other creditor do you really know what the leftover assets are really worth.”
Among those picking at the leftovers:
❚ Citizens Bank in New York reached a deal with prosecutors for the possible recovery of up to $3.2 million in loans on a Soho apartment owned by Manafort, pending its sale by the government.
At Manafort’s trial in August on financial fraud charges, prosecutors offered evidence that he falsified a loan application, including inflating his income by $1.5 million.
❚ Under a separate agreement with the government, a property management firm linked to the same Soho property stands to collect more than $2,500 in back condo fees dating to last fall.
❚ The Chicago-based Federal Savings Bank, whose chief executive expedited approval of $16 million in loans for Manafort after he and the former Trump campaign chief discussed a possible role in the Trump administration, seeks to claw back some of the loan’s proceeds.
❚ The assistant secretary of the Trump Tower condo board asserted an interest in the anticipated sale of unit 43G, which once served as the Manaforts’ stylish pied-à-terre in New York. The board, according to court documents, seeks an undisclosed amount in uncollected condo fees related to the property that once established Manafort and his wife as neighbors of the president. Separate property listings for the apartment show condo fees of about $2,000 a month.
“Any sale of a residential unit in the condominium is conditioned on the claimant being paid all common charges due on a residential unit as of the date of conveyance,” the board said.
❚ In one of the more obscure disputes, a federal judge gave a general contractor until March 8 to support his claim for $585,991.85 related to work on Manafort’s Brooklyn brownstone.
Prosecutors argued that the claim should be dismissed.
Manafort was found guilty of fraud and other charges by a federal court in Virginia, and he pleaded guilty to related charges in another federal court in Washington. He hasn’t been sentenced in either case but agreed to give up a chunk of his fortune that he gained through illicit lobbying work.