NY Prosecutors Indict Manafort on Mortgage-Fraud Charges
Moments after being sentenced in federal court in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Paul Manafort was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury in connection with a mortgage-fraud scheme.
Manafort, who has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to a host of federal charges in two separate cases, was charged with 16 state counts of residential mortgage fraud and conspiracy, according to the indictment unsealed Wednesday.
The former Trump campaign chairman is accused of falsifying records in order to obtain millions of dollars in loans as part of an extensive mortgage-fraud scheme.
“No one is beyond the law in New York,” Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement. “Following an investigation commenced by our Office in March 2017, a Manhattan grand jury has charged Mr. Manafort with state criminal violations which strike at the heart of New York’s sovereign interests, including the integrity of our residential mortgage market. I thank our prosecutors for their meticulous investigation, which has yielded serious criminal charges for which the defendant has not been held accountable.”
The indictment was unsealed less than an hour after Manafort was sentenced to an additional 43 months in prison by a Washington D.C. federal judge in connection with his unregistered lobbying activity on behalf of a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party. That ruling came after he received a 47-month sentence in Virginia last week on tax- and bank-fraud charges.
Trump can pardon his former campaign chairman on all federal charges, but cannot protect him from the consequences of the charges pending against him in the state of New York.
