Giuliani associate hid payment from lawyer of oligarch with alleged Russian mafia ties, prosecutors say
Prosecutors say Lev Parnas, associate of President Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, concealed a $1 million payment he received from an indicted Ukrainian oligarch, Axios reports.
Federal prosecutors previously alleged that Parnas, who in October was arrested and charged with campaign finance violations after trying to dig up dirt about Democrats in Ukraine, misrepresented his income by not disclosing a $1 million September payment from Russia.
On Tuesday, prosecutors said the $1 million payment came from a lawyer to Dmytro Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch facing bribery and racketeering charges and who federal prosecutors in 2017 described as an "upper-echelon" associate of Russian organized crime, Reuters reports. Firtash has denied these alleged organized crime ties.
Parnas denies concealing the $1 million payment, which his lawyer says was a loan for his wife so they could purchase a house, CNBC reports. A judge Tuesday denied prosecutors request to revoke Parnas' $1 million release bond, suggesting his alleged misstatements may not have been intentional and saying that "the strict conditions that exist [for bail] are appropriate."
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