FBI Investigating U.S. Ties To Alleged Corruption By Former Ukraine PresidentThe alleged scandal reportedly involves Paul Manafort, who recently resigned as chairman of the Trump campaign.
08/20/2016 09:54 am ET
An investigation is underway to determine if U.S. companies and the financial system were used to enable corruption by the party of former pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, pictured here.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI and U.S. Justice Department are investigating possible U.S. ties to alleged corruption involving the former president of Ukraine, including the work of firms headed by political operatives Paul Manafort and Tony Podesta, CNN reported on Friday, citing multiple U.S. law enforcement officials.
The broad-based investigation was looking into whether U.S. companies and the financial system were used to enable corruption by the party of former pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, CNN said.
A person who answered a telephone number for Manafort said Manafort was not available for comment. The person, who said he was an associate of Manafort and who gave his name only as David, referred queries to a lawyer in Washington, who did not immediately respond to a phone call and an email.
In response to a report in the New York Times on Monday, Manafort denied any impropriety in a statement. “I have never received a single ‘off-the-books cash payment’ as falsely ‘reported’ by The New York Times, nor have I ever done work for the governments of Ukraine or Russia,” he said.
The New York Times reported that he had received cash payments worth more than $12 million over five years that were itemized on secret ledgers belonging to Yanukovich’s Party of Regions.
Manafort, who resigned as chairman of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign on Friday, had not been the focus of the probe, CNN said, citing the officials.
The probe was looking at the work of other firms linked to the former Ukrainian government, including the Podesta Group, a lobbying and public relations company headed by Tony Podesta, whose brother John Podesta is chairman of the campaign to elect Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Manafort’s attorney Richard Hibey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The FBI declined to comment, CNN reported.
The Podesta Group has hired an independent legal firm to investigate whether it had been misled by the Centre for a Modern Ukraine, a not-for-profit group linked to the ousted Ukrainian government, a spokeswoman for the group said in a statement.
The Justice Department, asked to comment on the report, said it remained “committed to helping recover stolen assets on behalf of the people of Ukraine.”
Investigators in Ukraine have said Yanukovych and his party engaged in widespread corruption. He fled to Russia following a popular uprising in 2014.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fbi ... 513688b81cFriday, 19 August 2016 | MYT 7:03 PM
Ukrainian MP offers more details on alleged payments to Trump campaign chiefBY PAVEL POLITYUK
KIEV (Reuters) - A Ukrainian lawmaker on Friday divulged more details of what he said were payments made to Donald Trump's campaign chief in the U.S. presidential race by the political party of the Kremlin-backed former Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich.
MP Serhiy Leshchenko said money was allocated for Trump aide Paul Manafort to finance services such as carrying out exit polls at elections, buying computers and conducting research. The largest single payment was $3.5 million.
Manafort has denied allegations - first made in the New York Times on Monday - that he received cash payments worth more than $12 million over five years that were itemised on secret ledgers belonging to Yanukovich's Party of Regions.
Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators have corroborated the existence of what they called a "black ledger" of payments made by Yanukovich's party but stressed that they could not establish whether Manafort himself received money.
Leshchenko, a member of President Petro Poroshenko's parliamentary faction, called on Ukrainian authorities to send a request for assistance to Washington to investigate Manafort.
"Manafort didn't work for free in Ukraine, he served the Party of Regions for over 10 years and it is clear that his work was paid," Leshchenko told a news conference.
"The money was transferred in cash and it is impossible to trace the transactions, but I have no doubt as to the authenticity of these documents," he said.
"If Mr Manafort denies any allegations, I think he has to be interrogated into this case and prove his position that he was not involved," Leshchenko added.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign has previously said the allegations were evidence of "more troubling connections between Donald Trump's team and pro-Kremlin elements in Ukraine".
Trump, a Republican, has spoken favourably in the past of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Last month, he invited Russian hackers to find "missing" emails from Clinton's time as secretary of state, when she used a private email server to conduct government business, although he later described that call as sarcasm.
In response to the earlier report in the New York Times, Manafort denied any impropriety in a statement on Monday. "I have never received a single 'off-the-books cash payment' as falsely 'reported' by The New York Times, nor have I ever done work for the governments of Ukraine or Russia," he said.
Trump overhauled his top political team this week, demoting Manafort, who was brought on as campaign chief in June to professionalise its approach but struggled to get the wealthy businessman to rein in his freewheeling ways.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/world/20 ... ign-chief/
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.