"Additional criminal conduct" unearthed against Manafort, special counsel alleges
Special counsel Robert Mueller alleged in court filings released late Friday that "additional new crimes" by former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had been uncovered. These included a series of bank frauds and bank fraud conspiracies, at least part of which related to a mortgage on his Fairfax, Va. property.
The special counsel will reveal the new evidence to the court soon, which could potentially result in new charges.
The filing came in response to Manafort's request to change his bail requirements. He has been under house arrest since he pleaded not guilty in Oct. Prosecutors from Mueller's office allege Manafort submitted false information on a bank mortgage for one of three properties he has pledged as security for bail.
According to Reuters, prosecutors said in the redacted filing that they had evidence that Manafort secured the $9 million mortgage from the Federal Savings Bank through false representations, including "doctored profit and lost statements" that overstated the property's income by "millions of dollars."
Manafort, along with former campaign associate Rick Gates, is accused of lobbying and doing other work for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine headed by ousted Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Manafort and Gates are accused of failing to register as foreign agents representing the Ukrainians and also allegedly laundered up to $75 million in payments. The activities date from 2006 through February 2017.
They were charged with several counts, including money laundering and failure to register as foreign agents, in Oct. 2017.
Separately on Friday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced indictment of Russian nationals and entities accused of breaking U.S. laws to interfere with the 2016 presidential election.