Gates says he helped Manafort conceal payments

402

Rick Gates, the former business partner of Paul Manafort, testified Tuesday that he helped Manafort conceal payments from offshore accounts.

The prosecution’s star witness Rick Gates took the stand for a second day in the fraud trial of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.

Gates laying out a roadmap on how he and Manafort allegedly dodged U.S. taxes.. after admitting Monday they committed numerous crimes as business partners.

Gates told the court Manafort requested he not tell a bookkeeper about payments made from accounts he held in Cyprus, testifying that hundreds of emails show Manafort approved payments out of those accounts, which he said at one point held nearly $6 million.

Manafort’s attorneys have signaled they will seek to blame Gates and have accused him of embezzling millions of dollars from Manafort.

Gates on Monday admitted he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from Manafort by filing false bank statements.

Gates pleaded guilty in February and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors under a deal that could lead to a reduced sentence.

Manafort’s trial, the first to arise from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe, is not about Russian collusion, it hangs in the background

The jury has heard how Manafort made tens of millions of dollars working for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine…

Manafort’s accountant was asked about a purported $10 million loan from Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

The accountant testified she was unaware if the loan was recognized as income or ever paid back.

Website: http://timesofoman.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/timesofoman
Twitter: http://twitter.com/timesofoman