US: Russia probe new charges against Trump officials

US: Russia probe new charges against Trump officials

Federal grand jury in Virginia returns 32 count indictment, including 16 counts related to providing false tax returns

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Special Counsel Robert Mueller added a bevy of fresh charges against former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and aide Rick Gates Thursday.

In all, a federal grand jury in Virginia returned a 32 count indictment, including 16 counts related to providing false individual income tax returns, seven counts of failure to report foreign bank accounts, five counts of bank fraud conspiracy, and four counts of bank fraud.

Gates and Manafort were charged with money laundering last year tied to their work for Ukrainian interests.

Thursday's indictment alleges that they took in tens of millions of dollars from the Ukraine-related work, attempting to hide their incomes from U.S. authorities. They are accused of laundering over $30 million.

The new charges do not appear to be directly tied to Mueller's probe of Russia's alleged attempts to influence the 2016 election and the Trump campaign's possible collusion with the effort U.S. officials have said was aimed at undercutting Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. But they do show Mueller's continued pursuit of the investigation.

Last week, the special counsel probe indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities for allegedly conspiring to undermine the presidential race through a robust cyber campaign.

Manafort managed the Trump campaign for several months before being replaced by Kellyanne Conway, who now serves as a White House counselor. Gates, a close business associate, also served in the Trump campaign.

President Donald Trump has denied any collusion took place between his campaign and the Russian effort, at times appearing to doubt it even occurred, and calling Mueller's investigation a "witch hunt".

But on Tuesday a lawyer also with ties to the Ukraine struck a plea deal with Mueller, admitting to lying about his interactions with Gates.

Alex Van der Zwaan is the third person to cooperate with Mueller's probe.

Kaynak:Source of News

This news has been read 282 times in total

ADD A COMMENT to TO THE NEWS
UYARI: Küfür, hakaret, rencide edici cümleler veya imalar, inançlara saldırı içeren, imla kuralları ile yazılmamış,
Türkçe karakter kullanılmayan ve büyük harflerle yazılmış yorumlar onaylanmamaktadır.
Previous and Next News