Every day just a little more…it’s like watching a turd blossom bloom in slow motion.
But remember that chairmen of campaigns play minimal roles…
Is “legitimate” synonymous with legal?
From what I’ve read, having Cypriot bank accounts is like wearing biker colors—it’s pretty much a straight-up announcement that you’re doing illegal stuff.
Manafort just had a mad hankering for Cypriot calendars and pen and pencil sets…
A position in the Trump administration also is a way to let the world know you are not constrained by ethics, laws, or decency.
Nope, the only restraints are your “creativity” and “drive”.
There was also a time when having Cypriot bank accounts announced that you had more money than you should and you couldn’t really move it anywhere else.
Once Cyprus Popular Bank launched an internal investigation into possible money-laundering, Manafort closed the accounts associated with him there, according to the report.
Just another happy, serendipitous, coincidence?
He was just trying to reduce the workload of those investigators. Very humane of him.
Yes, but even within that select group Manafort warranted investigation by the Cyprus bank. I think when it comes to money laundering he is clearly on the all star team.
Oh yeah. Definite red flag for auditors, prosecutors and such. BTW Manafort is also involved in some very suspect real-estate deals where he’d buy multimillion-dollar Manhattan buildings for cash through shell companies, then convert them to his name and take out mortgages on them. Supposedly this is a good way to take dirty naughty Russian mob money and clean it up while covering your tracks. There’s no other business reason to do it. But I’m sure there’s an innocent explanation for all, all of this.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2a/The_Wire_The_Greek.jpg
Manafort’s NYC real estate deals also have the hallmarks of money-laundering
I’m sure his role in laundering the money was very, very marginal.
THIS!
It “closes the circle” on the Russian Connection for Trump’s Secretary of Commerce to have been a managing Vice President of the the Bank of Cyprus (something he has tried to hide or minimize) during all of Manafort’s (and Carter Page, and Mike Flynn, and Roger Stone) dealings laundering money for the Russian Mob. One of the operations was run DIRECTLY out of Trump Tower only 3 floors below Trump’s quarters there. That is what the FISA warrants for the FBI were for and how they “incidentally” recorded all of the above players, and Trump himself.
So confusing! Manafort takes out a loan for $6.8M on a property valued at $5M tops, and does the same on two more properties in the same short time frame. How does this work? I’m pretty sure no bank in my piece of the world makes loans like that.