Federal prosecutors anticipate they will rest their case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort next week, a prediction that came on the second day of what was expected to be a three-week trial.
Prosecutor Uzo Asonye of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said the government is ahead of schedule. Judge T.S. Ellis III has worked to move the trial along quickly, often questioning the government’s requests to publish exhibits before the courtroom and prodding prosecutors to make their points quicker.
The 12-member jury gathered in the Alexandria, Va., courtroom on Wednesday for the second day of Manafort’s trial. The former Trump campaign chairman is facing 18 counts of bank and tax fraud.
The government accuses Manafort of concealing tens of millions of dollars from work he did for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and the Party of Regions. Federal prosecutors also say Manafort misled banks to secure loans when income from his political work in Ukraine dried up.
Jurors heard from eight witnesses Wednesday, including political consultant Daniel Rabin and FBI special agent Matthew Mikuska. Mikuska detailed the FBI’s early-morning search of Manafort’s Alexandria condominium in August 2017 and the trove of documents obtained.
[More: Democratic consultant Tad Devine first to take the stand in Manafort trial]
During the afternoon session, the government called to testify six vendors Manafort worked with over the years, including two employees from high-end clothing stores, his contractor, real estate agent, and landscaper.
Prosecutors told the court that Manafort spent more than $1 million on tailored suits and high-end clothing from Alan Couture in New York City and House of Bijan in Los Angeles.
Maximillian Katzman, the former manager of Alan Couture and son of its owner, described Manafort as one of its “top clients.”
From 2010 to 2014, Manafort spent more than $910,000 on clothing from the store. However, Katzman said Manafort sometimes had “delinquency” with paying his bills, meaning he was sometimes late.
[Related: Federal prosecutors paint Manafort as person who lied to support life of luxury]
Katzman said he received payments from Manafort through wire transfers from foreign bank accounts, and said he was the only one of its 40 clients to pay in such a manner.
Prosecutor Greg Andres presented to the jury at one point an invoice that appeared to be from Alan Couture, but that Katzman suggested was fake.
The name was “off by a letter,” he said, and the zip code of the store was incorrect.
The invoice purported to show a bill to Global Endeavor, a company Manafort created in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Prosecutors did not definitively say at that point in the trial the invoice was forged, but they have accused him of lying on loan applications.
Manafort informed Katzman in emails presented by the prosecution that he would be receiving payments for his purchases from Alan Couture through wire transfers from companies Manafort created overseas.
Prosecutors, though, received pushback from Ellis over their focus on Manafort’s luxurious lifestyle and urged the government to provide evidence that tied his suits purchases to income that was not reported to the Internal Revenue Service.
“The government doesn’t want to prosecute someone because they wear nice clothes, do they?” Ellis asked Andres.
During cross-examination, Manafort’s lawyer, Jay Nanavati, established that Manafort was one of Alan Couture’s “more international clients” and was sometimes difficult to reach when he was traveling overseas.
In those instances, Katzman said he would contact Rick Gates, Manafort’s business associate, but could not attest to his “spelling abilities.”
Nanavati appeared to be attempting to pin the false invoices on Gates.
Issues with alleged invoices to vendors Manafort worked with arose later in the day, when the government called to the stand Stephen Jacobson, the owner of SP&C Home Improvement.
Jacobson’s company worked on several of Manafort’s properties, including a home in Bridgehampton, New York, and at least two in New York City. Jacobson told the jury he also did work on Manafort’s property in Trump Tower.
Jacobson told the court he estimates his company billed Manafort for more than $3 million of home improvement work.
In paying for that work, he said Manafort paid by international wire transfers from banks in Cyprus.
Bank statements presented as evidence by the special counsel Robert Mueller’s team of prosecutors show payments were made to SP&C Home Improvement from the Manafort-created Global Highway Limited, which had an account in Cyprus.
Prosecutors also presented invoices that demonstrated the work Jacobson’s company was hired to do for Manafort.
But Jacobson objected to one invoice presented by Andres, which he said was not, in fact, a bill from SP&C Home Improvement.
The allegedly forged invoice, like that presented by the prosecution from Alan Couture, was a bill to Global Endeavor and outlined architectural and design work.
Jacobson told the court Global Endeavor was not a client of his and noted his firm also did not do architectural and design work.
In addition to Jacobson and Katzman, jurors also heard from Ronald Wall, the chief financial officer of House of Bijan, dubbed the “most expensive store in the world.”
Wall said Manafort spent more than $300,000 at the store from 2010 to 2012, and payments for his purchases were made via wire transfers from banks in Cyprus.
Manafort’s trial is the first related to Mueller’s Russia probe.
Jurors will convene at 9:30 a.m. Thursday for the third day.
