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Paul Manafort embroiled in financial corruption claims

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Created 15/12/2020 - 14:50
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However, that period of time was to be the last time the former strategist would be viewed favourably, as just two short years later, Mr Manafort would serve a prison sentence for corruption [1]. And yet, things may be about to get even worse for the former aid, as a new leak has exposed the full extent of his flagrantly corrupt activities. 

An international group of investigative journalists recently shared thousands of documents detailing £1.5 trillion's worth of potentially corrupt transactions that were washed through the U.S financial system. The leak itself focuses on more than 2000 suspicious activity reports (SARs) - something that banks and financial services use to spot possible criminal activity. 

One of the men who is seemingly implicated in this leak is Paul Manafort, though he is just one of many. Mr Manafort stepped down from his role within the Trump administration after his consultancy work for former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was brought to light - leading to subsequent fraud and tax evasion charges. Browse Casino Zones selection of ecopayz casinos [2] here.

The ICIJ states that banks began flagging activity linked to Manafort as early as 2012, while in 2017, JP Morgan Chase filed a report on wire transfers worth over $300m involving shell companies in Cyprus that had previously done business with Manafort. Despite the claims, the former adviser's lawyer did not respond or offer a formal statement. 

The newly emerged details cast new doubt on the transparency of banks such as JP Morgan Chase when it comes to reporting possible fraudulent activity. A spokesperson for the U.S based bank told the BBC: "We follow all laws and regulations in support of the government's work to combat financial crimes. We devote thousands of people and hundreds of millions of dollars to this important work."

Regarding FinCEN, they publicly denounced the leaking of disclosed documents, detailing how an internal investigation was already underway regarding this matter. In a statement released earlier this month, they asserted: "The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is aware that various media outlets intend to publish a series of articles based on unlawfully disclosed suspicious activity reports (SARs), as well as other sensitive government documents, from several years ago".

"As FinCEN has stated previously, the unauthorised disclosure of SARs is a crime that can impact the national security of the United States, compromise law enforcement investigations, and threaten the safety and security of the institutions and individuals who file such reports," they concluded.

As for Manafort, he is currently back home following a two-year term behind bars. Concerns over his age, alongside the growing threat of infection, saw Mr Manafort depart federal prison - well before his seven-and-a-half-year sentence was fulfilled. He was initially sentenced in 2018 on five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and one count for failing to report on foreign bank accounts receiving funds.

The leak which took Manafort down created some additional collateral damage, however. Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, a senior advisor for the Treasury Departments' FinCEN, was charged in 2018 with leaking information about suspicious financial activity related to Paul Manafort.

The FinCEN leak is just the latest in a string of leaks to hit financial institutions. This comes after BBC Panorama exposed a troubling cover-up involving HSBC - who, it is alleged, allowed criminals to transfer millions of dollars from a Ponzi scheme through its accounts, even after it had identified such activity as fraudulent. 

 




Source URL:
https://www.newbusiness.co.uk/articles/lifestyle/paul-manafort-embroiled-financial-corruption-claims