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Meet the Florida Duo Helping Giuliani Dig Dirt for Trump in Ukraine
Really loooong article, and from earlier this year. But extremely helpful in understanding some of the background.
Parnas and Fruman are the "clients" Giuliani kept sputtering about during his Chris Cuomo interview meltdown.
This story screams "FOLLOW THE MONEY!"
From the Black Sea to Boca
The previous business dealings of both Parnas and Fruman raise serious concerns about their newfound access to senior American political figures.
A resident of upscale Boca Raton, Parnas once ran an electronics business that was successfully sued for its role in a fraudulent penny stock promotion scheme. He has also worked for three brokerages that later lost their licenses for fraud and other violations. He has never been personally charged.
Court records also show that judges have awarded a series of default judgements against Parnas for multiple unpaid debts. These include over $500,000 he owes to an investor in a Hollywood movie that he had promoted but was never made. He has also been sued a dozen times over the last decade for failing to pay rent on various Palm Beach County properties and has been evicted from two homes.
Frumans backstory is even more colorful.
https://www.occrp.org/en/investigations/meet-the-florida-duo-helping-giuliani-dig-dirt-for-trump-in-ukraine
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Meet the Florida Duo Helping Giuliani Dig Dirt for Trump in Ukraine (Original Post)
intrepidity
Sep 2019
OP
UpInArms
(51,253 posts)1. More from the link
He said their political activities were motivated by sincere conviction that they had uncovered wrongdoing that should be investigated.
Were American citizens, we love our country, we love our president,he said.
The men make for unlikely back-channel diplomats. Parnas, 47, is a former stockbroker with a history of unpaid debts, including half a million dollars owed to a Hollywood movie investor. Fruman, 53, has spent much of his career in Ukraine, and has ties to a powerful local businessman reputed to be in the inner circle of one of the countrys most infamous mafia groups.
Giuliani and Fruman didnt respond to multiple requests for interviews or to written questions. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Kenneth McCallion, an ex-federal prosecutor who has represented former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko in U.S. court, said that Parnas and Fruman were playing with fire by lobbying in the United States and Ukraine without registering as foreign agents.
Trump has either authorized Giuliani to engage in private diplomacy and deal-making, or even worse, remains silent while Giuliani and his dodgy band of soldiers of fortune engage in activities that severely undermine U.S. credibility and are contrary to fundamental U.S. interests, McCallion said.
3Hotdogs
(12,210 posts)3. Not to worry. They will be pardoned by Trump if they are prosecuted
for being unregistered foreign agents.
vlyons
(10,252 posts)2. Grifters galore
Corruption that stinks to high heaven