{"slug":"trump-manafort-pardon-money-laundering-ukraine","title":"Paul Manafort: Bank Fraud, Tax Fraud, Ukraine Lobbying — Convicted and Pardoned","date":"2018-08-21","lastUpdated":"2020-12-23","description":"Paul Manafort served as Trump's campaign chairman for five months in 2016. He was convicted in August 2018 in federal court in Virginia on eight counts of bank fraud and tax fraud related to millions of dollars he had received for political consulting work on behalf of pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians. He reached a plea agreement in Washington D.C. on related charges in September 2018, then breached the agreement by lying to prosecutors. He was sentenced to a combined 7.5 years but served less than two years before being released to home confinement amid COVID concerns; Trump pardoned him in December 2020.","summary":"Manafort received over $65 million to manage political campaigns for Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russian Ukrainian president later forced from office and who fled to Russia. Manafort hid the income in offshore accounts and spent lavishly while lying on tax returns and bank loan applications. Mueller's investigation documented that Manafort had also shared internal Trump campaign polling data with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukrainian political consultant assessed by the U.S. Senate to have ties to Russian intelligence — data sharing that occurred during the period when Russia was conducting its interference operation.","category":"corruption","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/us/politics/paul-manafort-verdict.html","title":"Paul Manafort Convicted on Eight Counts in Tax and Bank Fraud Trial","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-pardons-roger-stone-paul-manafort-and-charles-kushner/2020/12/23/4b50dfa2-44d1-11eb-a277-49a6d1f9dff1_story.html","title":"Trump pardons Manafort, Stone, and Kushner","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://www.senate.gov/legislative/common/generic/Russian_interference.htm","title":"Senate Intelligence Committee Report: Russian Active Measures — Manafort-Kilimnik data sharing","publisher":"U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/manafort-convicted-trump-campaign","title":"Manafort convicted of bank and tax fraud in first Mueller trial","publisher":"The Associated Press"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Manafort","Ukraine","Russia","corruption","first-term","pardon","campaign"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2016-08-19","title":"Manafort resigns as campaign chairman","summary":"Manafort resigns from the Trump campaign after reporting about his undisclosed Ukrainian political consulting work and questions about a 'black ledger' showing payments. He had served as campaign chairman since June 2016."},{"date":"2018-08-21","title":"Manafort convicted in Virginia","summary":"A Virginia jury convicts Manafort on 8 of 18 counts of bank fraud and tax fraud after a two-week trial. The convictions relate to millions in hidden income from Ukrainian political work."},{"date":"2018-09-14","title":"Manafort pleads guilty in D.C.","summary":"Manafort pleads guilty in Washington D.C. to two conspiracy charges — conspiracy against the United States (related to FARA violations) and obstruction of justice (witness tampering). The plea includes a cooperation agreement."},{"date":"2019-02-13","title":"Mueller: Manafort breached cooperation agreement","summary":"Mueller's office concludes that Manafort repeatedly and intentionally lied to investigators after agreeing to cooperate — on subjects including his contacts with Kilimnik. The cooperation agreement is voided."},{"date":"2019-03-07","title":"Manafort sentenced — combined 7.5 years","summary":"Manafort is sentenced to 47 months in Virginia (less than guidelines; the judge notes a 'blameless life' before the crimes) and 73 months in D.C. to run partially concurrently — a total of approximately 7.5 years. He is 69 years old."},{"date":"2020-05-13","title":"Released to home confinement","summary":"Manafort is released to home confinement amid COVID-19 concerns after serving approximately 23 months at FCI Loretto."},{"date":"2020-12-23","title":"Full pardon issued","summary":"Trump issues a full pardon to Manafort as part of the holiday pardon batch, eliminating his convictions."}],"location":{"name":"Virginia / Washington, D.C.","lat":38.9072,"lng":-77.0369},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"judicial-finding","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Banks defrauded through fraudulent loan applications; taxpayers; Ukrainian democratic institutions whose elections were manipulated by Manafort's pro-Russian campaigns","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Paul Manafort","role":"Trump campaign chairman; convicted of bank fraud, tax fraud, unreported foreign lobbying","institution":"Trump campaign"},{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"Employed Manafort despite known ties to pro-Russian Ukraine; issued full pardon December 2020","institution":"White House"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2020-12-23","summary":"Updated with full pardon."}]}}