Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been found guilty of bank and tax fraud.
 |
| Paul Manafort's mugshot photo after he was moved to Alexandria detention centre |
He was found guilty of eight out of 18 charges relating to financial crime.
Manafort was convicted of five counts of filing false income tax returns, one count of failing to file a report of a foreign bank account in 2012 and two counts of bank fraud.
Judge TS Ellis declared a mistrial on the 10 other charges after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict.
The jury deliberated for four days before announcing the verdict at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia.
Prosecutors spent more than two weeks presenting their case as they sought to prove Manafort concealed millions of dollars in offshore accounts from the IRS.
They accused Manafort of having avoided paying more than $16m (£12.4m) in taxes over several years.
They called carpenters, landscapers and clothiers to attest to how Manafort paid for his lavish lifestyle of expensive suits and elaborate properties through offshore wire transfers from shell companies in Cyprus and elsewhere.
Related :: US midterm elections 2018: Top data cruncher bullish on Democrats' edge, gives party 3 in 4 chance of taking House majority
It is the first trial victory for special counsel Robert Mueller's team.
The judge declared the court is in recess following the verdicts.
Mr Ellis has not set a sentencing date and has given prosecutors until 29 August to decide whether to retry Manafort on the deadlocked charges.
Donald Trump responded to the verdict, saying he was "very sad" for Manafort.
"This has nothing to do with Russian collusion... This is a witch-hunt and a disgrace," the president said.
US Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the senate intelligence committee, warned President Trump over a possible pardon for Manafort.
"Any attempt by the president to pardon Mr Manafort or interfere in the investigation into his campaign would be a gross abuse of power and require immediate action by Congress," said Mr Warner, whose committee has been investigating Russia collusion and the 2016 US election campaign.
This trial is the first of two for Manafort.
He faces a trial later this year in the District of Columbia on charges of conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, making false statements and acting as an unregistered foreign agent for Ukrainian interests.
He is also accused of witness tampering in that case.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment