Saturday, July 22, 2017

Getting to the Nitty Gritty

US investigators examining money laundering accusations against President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort hope to push him to cooperate with their probe into possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia, two sources with direct knowledge of the investigation said.

  Jerusalem Post
He strikes me as the kind of man to save his own skin.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team is examining Manafort's financial and real estate records in New York as well as his involvement in Ukrainian politics, the officials said.

Between 2006 and 2013, Manafort bought three New York properties, including one in Trump Tower in Manhattan. He paid for them in full and later took out mortgages against them. A former senior US law enforcement official said that tactic is often used as a means to hide the origin of funds gained illegally. Reuters has no independent evidence that Manafort did this.
I expect others have.
Manafort’s spokesman, Jason Maloni, said, “Paul Manafort is not a cooperating witness. Once again there is no truth to the disinformation put forth by anonymous sources and leakers.”
And I'm sure Maloni wouldn't lie.

Let's look at money laundering itself.
Money laundering is a serious charge -- in 2001, U.S. prosecutors obtained almost 900 money-laundering convictions with an average prison sentence of six years.

[...]

[C]ountries with bank-secrecy laws are directly connected to countries with bank-reporting laws, making it possible to anonymously deposit "dirty" money in ­one country and then have it transferred to any other country for use. ­

[...]

In October 2005, U.S. congressman Tom DeLay was indicted on money laundering charges, forcing him to step down as House Majority Leader.

[...]

In this article, we'll learn exactly what money laundering is and why it's necessary, who launders money and how they do it and what steps the authorities are taking to try to foil money-laundering operations.

  How Stuff Works
Continue reading How Money Laundering Works

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

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