NewsUS President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort was found guilty [NYT report] on five charges of tax fraud, two of bank fraud and one of failure to disclose a foreign bank account on Tuesday.
Manafort also faced another 10 charges on which the jury could not reach a verdict. Judge TS Ellis of the US District Court of the Eastern District of Virginia [official website] in Alexandria, Virginia, declared a mistrial on those charges.
The indictment [indictment, PDF] alleged that Manafort and Richard Gates, a former deputy chair of the Trump campaign and liaison to the Republican National Committee who has already pleaded guilty to charges, acted as unregistered agents of Ukraine and Victor Yanukovyk, the President of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. The two allegedly evaded taxes on the millions generated by claiming the income was, in fact, a series of loans from overseas corporations. The indictment indicates that more than $75,000,000 dollars were transferred through offshore accounts opened by the pair.
At the conclusion of the trial, Ellis thanked both parties’ counsel for their representation. A spokesperson for Manafort has indicated that they are currently evaluating their legal options. Another indicated that an appeal of the matter is expected.
It took the jury four days [Guardian report] to reach their verdict. The verdict was read aloud in the courtroom only minutes after Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight charges [JURIST report].
