Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his associate Richard Gates were charged Monday with engaging in money laundering, in part to hide payments from Ukraine. “In furtherance of the scheme,” the indictment accuses the two of using offshore accounts to pay a list of vendors in what it alleges are illegal wire transfers, which allowed them to avoid U.S. reporting and taxation rules.
“In order to use the money in the offshore nominee accounts of the Manafort–Gates entities without paying taxes on it, Manafort and Gates caused millions of dollars in wire transfers from these accounts to be made for goods, services, and real estate,” according to the indictment.
As a result of the more than $75 million that allegedly went through hidden offshore accounts, Manafort “used his hidden overseas wealth to enjoy a lavish lifestyle in the United States, without paying taxes on that income,” the indictment claims. It alleges Manafort laundered more than $18 million to buy personal property, goods, and services.
But how did he allegedly spend the money? Below is a list of what the indictment claims Manafort and Gates bought between 2008 and 2014 with illicit funds.
1. Antique rugs: Two offshore accounts wired multiple thousand-dollar payments to an antique rug store in Alexandria, Virginia, where Manafort lives, as well as a second vendor “related to” the antique rug store, for a total of $1,034,350.
2. Other antiques: Offshore accounts wired a total of $623,910 to New York.
3. Suits: A men’s clothing store in New York received $849,215, and $520,440 was transferred to a clothing store in Beverly Hills, California, adding up to a total of $1,369,655 in clothing purchases.
4. Cars: The accounts transferred the money to buy a Mercedes Benz and a Range Rover for $62,750 and $47,000, respectively. Also included: $163,705 for payments “relating to three Range Rovers.”
5. Paintings: Two accounts transferred a total of $31,900 to an art gallery in Florida.
6. Housekeeping: $20,000 dollars spent on housekeeping in New York.
7. Landscaping: Payments of $820,240 for two landscapers in the Hamptons in New York.
8. Home improvement: For a home improvement company and an “audio, video and control system home integration and installation company” in the Hamptons, the accounts transferred $5,547,618. For home automation in Florida, $1,319,281. Total: $6,866,899
9. Investment: $500,000 to an investment company.
10. Contractors: for unknown contracting companies in Virginia and Florida, a total of $558,137.
11. Property management: a South Carolina company this time, for $46,000.
But that’s not all. The offshore accounts were also allegedly used to buy two New York City properties—a $3 million Brooklyn brownstone and a $2.9 million SoHo loft—as well as a house in Arlington, Virginia.
Manafort allegedly rented out the SoHo loft for thousands of dollars per week on Airbnb while telling the bank the property was actually a second home for his daughter.
For the Brooklyn brownstone, which he paid for in cash, Manafort took out a loan he allegedly promised would be just for construction costs but was actually used to make a down payment on another property and to pay off the mortgage of a third property.
As for Gates, the indictment notes that “like Manafort, Gates used money from the offshore accounts to pay for his personal expenses including his mortgage, children’s tuition and interior decorating of his Virginia residence.”
Read more about the investigation into the 2016 election here.
