Important trial info about Manafort, Gates, $$ laundering, Cypress, Ukraine, Russians, Grenadines

[MelissaB]

Judge is taking a quick break. Rick Gates has been back on the stand. We saw examples of agreements that Gates said were between Manafort's Cypriot companies and various Ukrainian businessmen, incl. the amount of money to paid to the overseas accounts (in the millions of dollars)

Gates said that a Cypriot law firm would set up the various shelf companies (not "shell&quot for Manafort under different names, and they wouldn't have Manafort or Gates' names on them — they would have directors and board members, who were also members of the Cypriot law firm

Link to tweet

Gates said that after Viktor Yanukovych left power, work dried up for Manafort, and we saw emails between Gates and their associate Konstantin Kilimnik about trying to collect money still owed (recall that prosecutors allege Manafort engaged in bank fraud to keep up his $ flow)

We got an explanation for the funny-looking invoices re: US vendors Manafort did business with — Gates said when they moved $ from Cyprus to the Grenadines, those banks needed more documentation to make wire transfers, so Gates would create invoices under Manafort's account names

That is, the US vendors would submit invoices to Manafort with Manafort's name on them, but to transfer money from Manafort-controlled entities in the Grenadines, the invoices had to have the name of that entity. So Gates would create one

Gates repeatedly said that he created the agreements with the Ukrainian businessmen and initiated and facilitated wire transfers from the overseas accounts at Manafort's direction (with the exception being the money that Gates said he stole from Manafort)

Click the twitter post above to read more.

[lagomorph777]

1. All the Cyprus banking certainly makes one think of Wilbur Ross.

When is Ross' time in the barrel?

[jberryhill]

3. Interesting report about him this morning

From the no coincidence department

[Control-Z]

4. Do you have the link to that report? eom

[Hortensis]

5. Wilbur Ross has been in my mind also. Here are two,

a cautious Forbes article several hours old and a 1-hour Business Insider report that also cites the Forbes report.

New Details About Wilbur Ross’ Business Point To Pattern Of Grifting
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2018/08/06/new-details-about-wilbur-rosss-businesses-point-to-pattern-of-grifting/

Wilbur Ross is accused of swindling $120 million from associates and 'could rank among the biggest grifters in American history,' according to a bombshell Forbes report
https://www.businessinsider.com/wilbur-ross-120-million-grift-allegations-in-bombshell-forbes-report-2018-8

When Ross was named to the cabinet, I looked for background on him and, among others, found a New York Times article (an article subject to the editorial process, NOT an opinion piece) basically stating flat out that he was clean and in fact had come in and cleaned up the Bank of Cyprus. Many things have seemingly contradicted that picture of an honest appointee, and now this. The journalist, whose name I don't recall at the moment, was working for the NYT as of a couple months ago and is their Russia specialist.

Btw, I'm reminded of the NYT's Halloween 2016 article, 8 days before election day, that was rewritten at the request of unidentified government authorities (FBI I imagine) to imply that the FBi'S investigation of Trump-Russia hadn't found anything of significance. Those journalists were reportedly unhappy at this forced restyling from above that buried their original lead in a brief sentence far down that merely said the FBI had an open investigation.

NYT: Investigating Donald Trump, F.B.I. Sees No Clear Link to Russia
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/us/politics/fbi-russia-election-donald-trump.html

WaPo: New York Times acknowledges it buried the lead in pre-election Russia-Trump story

The resulting article, on Oct. 31, reflected that caution and said that agents had uncovered no “conclusive or direct link between Mr. Trump and the Russian government.”

The key fact of the article — that the F.B.I. had opened a broad investigation into possible links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign — was published in the 10th paragraph.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2018/05/16/new-york-times-acknowledges-it-buried-the-lead-in-pre-election-russia-trump-story/?utm_term=.27686ba780a4

[Control-Z]

8. Criminal activity appears to be prerequisite

to working for Trump.

[Hortensis]

9. :) Absolutely, when we think about it.

Trump can't work with honorable people, and they can't work for him.

Makes me imagine this pack of crooks and weasels faced with working for Obama, with his ridiculous, prissy constraints of morality, ethics, established procedures, democratic principles, legalities, and duty to the electorate. Oh, sure, that'd work...!

[gratuitous]

2. "Work dried up for Manafort"

I wonder if this "work" is anything that 95% of Trump supporters would recognize as actual work, much less compensable for seven or eight figures annually?

[TubbersUK]

6. Just in:

Link to tweet

Shimon Prokupecz
✔
@ShimonPro
Gates testified that after he was interviewed by the FBI, Manafort asked him to speak with one of their Ukrainian businessmen about the FBI interview. Gates said they met in France.

4:48 PM - Aug 7, 2018

[Squinch]

10. Oops! Obstruction?

[H2O Man]

7. Recommended!

Very much appreciated. Thank you.

[LanternWaste]

11. Shelf companies are inactive companies which do nothing other than age and collect dust.

When someone requires a company that's been around awhile (e.g., some jurisdictions require a company be X years old prior to bidding on a a contract, or want credit that older companies have earned due to age), they simply purchase the shelf company.



An example off Wiki:
A Reuters report described Wyoming Corporate Services as an example of a vendor of shelf companies, which were literally stored in mailboxes labelled as "corporate suites" in the main room of a 1,700-square-foot (160 m2) brick house a few blocks from the Wyoming State Capitol. Over 700 companies were available at prices depending on their age, ranging from $5,995 for a six-year-old company to $645 for one recently created. It is one of scores of similar businesses setting up shop, primarily in Delaware, Wyoming, and Nevada due to regulatory considerations