A federal grand jury in Virginia has approved a new 32-count indictment charging ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort and aid Rick Gates with federal tax and bank fraud allegations.
The charges, stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller’s broad investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign, include federal tax and bank fraud allegations.
In a statement Thursday evening, Manafort’s spokesman said his client is innocent and Manafort believes he “will be acquitted of all charges.”
“Paul Manafort is innocent of the allegations set out in the newly filed indictments and he is confident that he will be acquitted of all charges,” Jason Maloni said. “The new allegations against Mr. Manafort, once again, have nothing to do with Russia and 2016 election interference/collusion. Mr. Manafort is confident that he will be acquitted and violations of his constitutional rights will be remedied.”
The indictment’s status report reveals this case will be separate from the ongoing federal case against the two brought by Mueller in Washington, and be held in the federal courthouse in the Eastern District of Virginia.
Sixteen of the counts are related to false individual income tax returns, seven counts address a failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts, and the rest include bank fraud and bank fraud conspiracy.
Seven of the new 32 charges are similar to charges Gates and Manafort face in the case in Washington.
The indictment alleges that more than $75 million flowed through the offshore and foreign accounts, with Manafort obtaining $30 million in income with the help of Gates, and Gates obtaining $3 million. Both concealed the income from the Department of Treasury and Department of Justice.
The indictment says the scheme took place between 2015 and at least January 2017. Manafort joined the Trump campaign in March 2016 and left it in August 2016.
In October, Manafort and Gates were indicted on 12 charges, including laundering money while acting as unregistered foreign agents and conspiracy against the United States.
Both pleaded not guilty to those charges and are set to stand trial sometime this spring.
Recent reports have said that Gates was set to take a plea deal and cooperate with Mueller against Manafort.
However, the Daily Beast reported late Thursday that is untrue, and Gates has fired his lawyer Tom Green — known for negotiating pleas — and replaced him with Barry Pollack of Miller Chevalier.
