Giuliani associate received $1 mln payment from Ukrainian oligarch's lawyer -prosecutor
Record ID:
1448764
Giuliani associate received $1 mln payment from Ukrainian oligarch's lawyer -prosecutor
- Title: Giuliani associate received $1 mln payment from Ukrainian oligarch's lawyer -prosecutor
- Date: 17th December 2019
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 17, 2019) (REUTERS) LEV PARNAS, ASSOCIATE OF RUDY GIULIANI, LEAVING COURT WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEV PARNAS, ASSOCIATE OF RUDY GIULIANI, SAYING: REPORTER ASKING: "Why did the government push so hard?" ATTORNEY FOR LEV PARNAS, JOSEPH BONDY, SAYING: "I have my suspicions, needless to say. Mr. Parnas" PARNAS SAYING: "I want to thank God. I thank my wonderful wife and mother, all the supporters out there that have sending me the well wishes. And I wanted to especially thank, my attorney, Joe. PARNAS AND BONDY EMBRACING ATTORNEY FOR LEV PARNAS, JOSEPH BONDY, SAYING: "This is a well fought battle we didn't expect to have to fight. And it took a lot of time and took a lot of energy to have to make these arguments. We're happy we got a fair audience in court. We believe the judge came to the right result. And we're looking forward to defending this matter in this court. And also in continuing to have Mr. Parnas trying to speak his truth to Congress on behalf of all of us. Thank you." PARNAS WALKING TOWARDS CAR PAST CAR / GETTING INTO CAR / CAR PULLING AWAY
- Embargoed: 31st December 2019 19:53
- Keywords: Donald Trump Giuliani Igor Fruman Lev Parnas Paul Oetken Ukraine bail impeachment
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA001BAD8AIV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: U.S. prosecutors said in court on Tuesday (December 17) that Lev Parnas, an associate of U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, received a $1 million payment from a lawyer for Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash.
Prosecutors said that Parnas, who has been charged with campaign finance violations, should have his bail revoked because he concealed the payment from them, but U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken in New York ruled at Tuesday's hearing that Parnas may remain under house arrest in Florida.
Parnas has denied hiding the payment.
The Ukraine-born U.S. citizen, who worked with Giuliani while he was carrying out an investigation in Ukraine, was released on bail after his arrest in October.
Giuliani has emerged as a key figure in congressional impeachment of Trump, in which Democrats have accused the Republican president of abusing his power to pressure Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a potential rival in the 2020 election. Trump has called the impeachment a witch hunt.
Last week, prosecutors told Oetken that Parnas had concealed information about his finances, including a $1 million payment he had received from an account in Russia in September.
The account into which the payment was deposited was in the name of Parnas' wife, Svetlana Parnas, government and defense lawyers said.
On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Rebekah Donaleski said that the source of the payment was Firtash's lawyer. She said it was not plausible the payment was a loan to Parnas's wife, as he had said.
A lawyer for Parnas, Joseph Bondy, identified the Firtash attorney in court as Swiss national Ralph Oswald Isenegger.
Firtash, one of Ukraine's wealthiest businessman, is fighting extradition by U.S. authorities on bribery charges from Vienna, where he has lived for five years.
Firtash's spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
Bondy said in a court filing on Monday that the $1 million payment was, in fact, disclosed. He said in court that Parnas "has absolutely no continuing relationship with Mr. Firtash ... Mr. Parnas has completely burned those bridges."
Parnas was charged in October alongside another Florida businessman, Belarus-born Igor Fruman, with illegally funneling money to a pro-Trump election committee and other politicians. Fruman and Parnas have pleaded not guilty.
The case against Parnas is unfolding as prosecutors investigate payments made to Giuliani, who has not been charged with a crime and has denied any wrongdoing. Giuliani has said Parnas and Fruman worked with him in Ukraine when he was investigating Biden and Biden's son Hunter, who had been on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.
(Production by: Hussein al Waaile and Dan Fastenberg) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None