A federal judge has ordered Paul Manafort to wear an ankle bracelet while he’s on house arrest so he can’t flee the country.
A court filing submitted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller says that Manafort and his former business partner, Rick Gates, ‘pose a risk of flight based on the serious nature of the charges’ against them, their substantial means and foreign connections.
Manafort has three passports, which he turned over upon his arrest, Mueller’s bail memo reveals, and an email and phone that are registered under fake aliases.
A federal judge has ordered Paul Manafort to wear an ankle bracelet while he’s on house arrest so he can’t flee the country
A courtroom sketch shows Manafort (standing, center) and his former protege Rick Gates (standing, right) entering their not-guilty pleas before U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson on Monday
A court filing submitted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller says that Manafort and Gates’pose a risk of flight based on the serious nature of the charges’ against them, their substantial means and foreign connections
Gates and Manafort were indicted on Monday on 12 charges that involve their foreign bank accounts and money laundering. According to the government, they had close to $75 million that mostly hid in overseas accounts.
Manafort had assets in the amount of $19 million to $136 million, the court document says, based on various filings he submitted between 2012 and 2016.
Last year Gates claimed he had a net worth of $30 million, although he said a month later that he had just under $3 million worth of assets.
Bail for Manafort, 68, was set at $10 million, while Gates, 45, had his set at $5 million. They are facing 12 separate counts of foreign and financial crimes that face maximum penalties of 15 years and eight months and 12 years and seven months, respectively.
Both men have plead not guilty to the charges. They are due in court again on Thursday.
The phone Manafort took to Mexico in June, and China and Ecuador in May. Manafort registered the alias email address in March.
In the past ten years, Mueller says, Manafort submitted as many United States Passport applications that netted three passports, all with different numbers.
‘Manafort and Gates are frequent international travelers,’ the memo says, ‘consistent with the nature of their work for foreign entities.’
Last year alone, Manafort traveled to Dubai, Cancun, Panama City, Havana, Shanghai, Madrid, Tokyo, and the Grand Cayman Island, it states.
Gates and Manfort both traveled to Cyprus, the probe discovered, where their extensive offshore accounts were located.
‘Extensive travel of this nature further evidences a risk of flight,’ the memo states.
Mueller asked the court to reject any claims that the defendants do not pose a flight risk given that they did not flee the country while they were under federal investigation.
They are now under house arrest. Some pretrial arrangements can come with allowances for leaving the house for work, school, church services and even grocery shopping, but it is not clear if that’s the case for Manafort and Gates.