State prosecutors in New York have charged Paul Manafort with mortgage fraud and other charges – in a sudden development that emerged just minutes after a federal judge handed down a sentence that could put him in prison for over seven years.
The charges were a stark reminder that even if President Trump were to pardon his longtime campaign chair for the federal charges he has been convicted of committing, he could still do time.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. revealed the charges in a 16-count indictment this afternoon.
The New York crimes Manafort is being charged with are residential mortgage fraud, conspiracy, falsifying records, and a scheme to defraud.
The alleged scheme involved falsifying bank records in order to obtain big loans in a state where Manafort held property and did business.
‘No one is beyond the law in New York,’ Vance said in a statement announcing the charges.
The state investigation had been ongoing, and was brought before a grand jury in New York.
The development came after a federal judge sentenced Trump’s former campaign chairman to an additional 43 months in prison Wednesday a – making a determination that could put him behind bars for nearly seven more years.
The latest legal chapter burst onto the scene just after Judge Amy Berman Jackson handed down the sentence at a dramatic hearing where she tore into Manafort for his deception, lack of remorse, and even his lavish spending habits.
The latest charges relate to loans Manafort received on a Howard St. condo in SoHo that was allegedly used to launder money.
Vance said the year-long investigation ‘yielded serious criminal charges for which the defendant has not been held accountable.”
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s prosecutors brought up loans at his earlier trial.
The latest indictment includes emails seeking an appraisal and loan.
The Mueller indictment states that Manafort got the apartment for $2.85 million transferring funds from a company in Cyprus, then falsely claimed it was a second home for his daughter and son-in-law, and used it as an Airbnb rental.
The New York indictment also references another element of Manafort’s federal trial – his actions to wire funds from a Cyprus-based account as a reimbursement for Yankees season tickets.
According to the indictment, Manafort asked ‘Individual 6’ while in New York County to sign a letter stating: ‘Thank you for allowing me to use the AMEX Business Plum card to purchase season tickets for the 2016 baseball season.’
Prosecutors described the transaction in Manafort’s Virginia trial, saying Manafort got is deputy, Rick Gates, to sign the letter, at a time he was seeking millions in bank loans and making representations about his financial viability, Politico reported at the time.