'Allegedly an illegal straw donor scheme' - U.S. Attorney on two men linked to Trump Ukraine scandal

Record ID: 1436078

  • Title: 'Allegedly an illegal straw donor scheme' - U.S. Attorney on two men linked to Trump Ukraine scandal
  • Date: 10th October 2019
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 10, 2019) (REUTERS) UNITED STATES ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, GEOFFREY BERMAN, ENTERING ROOM, APPROACHING LECTERN (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, GEOFFREY BERMAN, SAYING: "Today we unsealed an indictment charging Lev Parnas, Igor Fruman and two co-defendants for their alleged participation in schemes to violate the federal campaign finance laws by repeatedly using straw donors and foreign money. Parnas and Fruman were arrested around 6 p.m. last night at Dulles Airport as they were about to board an international flight with one-way tickets. As alleged in the indictment, the defendants broke the law to gain political influence while avoiding disclosure of who was actually making the donations and where the money was coming from. They saw political influence not only to advance their own financial interests, but to advance the political interests of at least one foreign official, a Ukrainian government official who sought the dismissal of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine." VARIOUS OF CHART DETAILING THE ALLEGED STRAW DONOR SCHEME (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, GEOFFREY BERMAN, SAYING: "Parnas and Fruman contributed $325,000 to Committee-1. Now this contribution was not made in their name. It was made in the name of a corporation that they set up, GEP, in order to hide that the true individuals behind the donation were Parnas and Fruman. The $325,000 was one of one of the largest donations that Committee-1 received, and in the indictment we allege that this was an illegal straw donor scheme. In addition, Parnas and Fruman made direct contributions to Congressman-1. And these contributions, direct and promised, totaled over $20,000. Moreover, Committee-1 spent approximately $3 million to benefit Congressman-1. As a result, Parnas and Fruman had several meetings with Congressman-1, and at these meetings, Parnas, on behalf of the Ukrainian government official, lobbied Congressman-1 to advocate for the removal of the then U.S. ambassador to Ukraine." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, GEOFFREY BERMAN, SAYING: "Protecting the integrity of our elections and protecting our elections from unlawful foreign influence are core functions of our campaign finance laws. And as this office has made clear, we will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute those who engage in criminal conduct that draws into question the integrity of our political process. And I want to add that this investigation is continuing." BERMAN AND FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE, WILLIAM SWEENEY JR. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE WILLIAM SWEENEY JR., SAYING: "The American people expect and deserve an election process that has not been corrupted by the influence of foreign interests, and the public has a right to know the true source of campaign contributions. Laws make up the fabric of who we are as a nation. These allegations are not about some technicality, a civil violation, or an error on a form. This investigation is about corrupt behavior, deliberate lawbreaking." END OF NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 24th October 2019 19:25
  • Keywords: Trump impeachment Guiliani Lev Parnas Igor Fruman
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK + ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES / INTERNET
  • City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK + ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES / INTERNET
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001B0IO1MV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Two foreign-born Florida businessmen who have been helping President Donald Trump's personal lawyer investigate political rival Joe Biden have been arrested on charges of funneling foreign money to U.S. political candidates and a pro-Trump election committee, authorities said on Thursday (October 10).
    The arrests were the latest dramatic development in a political saga that threatens Trump's presidency. They come as the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives conducts an impeachment inquiry into Trump centered on the Republican president's request in a July telephone call for Ukraine's president to investigate Biden.
    The businessmen, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, were arrested in connection with a New York federal case involving campaign finance laws, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan said. The two men were donors to a pro-Trump fundraising committee and the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has said they helped him as he sought to investigate former Vice President Biden, a leading Democratic contender in the 2020 presidential election.
    Parnas is a Ukrainian businessman. Fruman is a real estate investor who was born in Belarus. Both, according to various media accounts, helped introduce Giuliani into top Ukrainian political circles.
    The two men had been planning to fly to Vienna on Wednesday (October 9) night, according to a source familiar with the matter.
    Parnas and Fruman conspired to "funnel foreign money to candidates for federal and state office," according to a federal court filing in New York. The two men made illegal contributions using straw donors, according to the indictment.
    John Dowd, the lawyer for Parnas and Fruman, declined to comment on the charges. Giuliani did not immediately return a request for comment.
    Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for the president, told Reuters that "neither the president nor the campaign was aware of their scheme," referring to the defendants.
    Trump has denied wrongdoing and has described the impeachment probe as a partisan smear.
    In May 2018, the indictment said, Parnas and Fruman contributed $325,000 to a pro-Trump political action committee called America First Action. The $325,000 donation was falsely reported as coming from a purported natural gas company, the indictment said.
    The two men falsely claimed that the company, GEP, was "a real business enterprise" and that "its major purpose is energy trading, not political activity," the indictment said. In fact, it said, the company had no real business.
    According to the indictment, Parnas sought the help of a U.S. congressman - identified by a person familiar with the matter as Republican Pete Sessions - to get the U.S. government to remove the then-ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Trump called Yovanovitch "bad news" in his July 25 call with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
    Yovanovitch was removed from the post by Trump.
    The indictment said the efforts were conducted at least in part at the request of at least one Ukrainian government official. Giuliani told Reuters last week he provided information to both Trump and the State Department about Yovanovitch, who he suggested was biased against Trump. She is scheduled to give testimony to House lawmakers this week.
    Sessions, a Republican from Dallas, lost his seat in the 2018 congressional elections to Democrat Colin Allred.
    Parnas and Fruman were due to appear at 2 p.m. (1800 GMT) in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Nachmanoff at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, according to a spokesman for the federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia.
    Two other people were charged in the indictment: David Correia, a U.S. businessman, and Andrey Kukushkin, a Ukrainian-born U.S. businessman.
    The Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit that favors campaign finance regulation, had urged a U.S. government agency in a July 2018 complaint to investigate whether Parnas and Fruman had broken the law by using a shell company to disguise the source of the $325,000 donation to the pro-Trump political action committee.
    Federal records show Parnas has donated a total of $25,200 to Republican candidates and political groups since the 2016 presidential election, including $2,700 to Representative Pete Sessions and $2,700 to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy. Fruman has donated $44,201 over that period to Republicans, including Sessions, the Republican National Committee and Trump's presidential campaign.
    Nancy Pelosi, who as House Speaker is the top Democrat in the chamber, launched the impeachment inquiry last month after the revelation that Trump had sought foreign interference in the 2020 election.
    A whistleblower complaint to Congress also raised concerns that Trump leveraged $400 million in U.S. aid to try to secure a promise from Ukraine's president to investigate Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
    Democrats are getting impatient with the administration's blocks on its investigation.
    "Republicans are now refusing to answer the simplest question: whether it's acceptable for a president to pressure foreign countries to undermine our elections. American elections should be decided by Americans, not by 'favors' from foreign governments," Pelosi tweeted on Thursday.
    (Production by Andrew Hofstetter and Roselle Chen)
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