Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort shared deeper financial links to a Kremlin-linked billionaire than previously thought, it was reported on Saturday.
A company owned by Oleg Deripaska, an aluminium magnate thought to have close ties to the government of President Vladimir Putin, gave a $26million loan to entities linked to Manafort, according to NBC News.
The report cited financial documents filed in Cyprus and the Cayman Islands – two countries that have poor reputations as havens of money laundering.
The revelation means that in the past decade, Manafort and Deripaska have concluded close to $60million worth of business dealings that are now drawing scrutiny from federal investigators.
In August 2016, Manafort stepped down as head of Trump’s campaign after reports surfaced of alleged shady financial dealings.
Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort (seen above on July 19, 2016 in Cleveland) shared deeper financial links to a Kremlin-linked billionaire than previously thought
A spokesperson for Manafort, Jason Maloni, released a statement to NBC News.
‘Mr. Manafort is not indebted to former clients today, nor was he at the time he began working for the Trump campaign,’ the statement read.
Maloni later released a revised statement to NBC News, which read: ‘Recent news reports indicate Mr. Manafort was under surveillance before he joined the campaign and after he left the campaign.
‘He has called for the US Government to release any intercepts involving him and non-Americans in hopes of finally putting an end to these wild conspiracy theories.
‘Mr. Manafort did not collude with the Russian government.’
A company owned by Oleg Deripaska (seen above in 2015), an aluminium magnate thought to have close ties to the government of President Vladimir Putin, gave a $26million loan to entities linked to Manafort, according to NBC News
A spokesperson for Deripaska did not respond to requests for comment.
The NBC News report claims that $26million was transferred from Oguster Management Ltd – a company owned by Deripaska – to Yiakora Ventures Ltd.
Financial documents from Cyprus show that Yiakora is a ‘related party’ to Manafort-linked entities in that country, according to the report.
A ‘related party’ means that one entity holds significant financial sway over another.
NBC News says it also confirmed the existence of a smaller $7million loan from Oguster to another Manafort-linked firm, LOAV Advisers Ltd.
Company documents show that the $7million loan was unsecured, meaning that it was not backed by any collateral.
The loan also had no specified repayment date.
The documents show that the $26million loan was repayable on demand. There is no word as to whether either of the loans were repaid.
Attorneys say that it is common for those engaging in money laundering to use suspicious loans.
Last month, it was reported that Manafort offered to provide briefings to Deripaska on the status of the 2016 US presidential election less than two weeks before then-candidate Donald Trump (seen left with Manafort and his daughter, Ivanka Trump) accepted the GOP nomination
The documents also show that the two companies in Cyprus sent over $27million in loans to another company linked to Manafort.
The company, a limited liability corporation known as Jesand LLC, is believed to bear the names of Manafort’s daughters, Jessica and Andrea.
Jesand LLC was used to buy a $2.5million condo in New York in 2007, according to public documents.
In 2017, Jesand obtained a $1million loan against that property.
Deripaska is also believed to have invested $26million in a private equity fund earmarked for a Ukrainian telecommunications company – with the money allegedly being funneled through Cypriot entities.
Authorities allege that Manafort wanted the investments structured as loans ‘so as to avoid the unnecessary occasioning of Cyprus taxation.’
Last month, it was reported that Manafort offered to provide briefings to Deripaska on the status of the 2016 US presidential election less than two weeks before Trump accepted the Republican nomination.
‘If he needs private briefings we can accommodate,’ Manafort wrote in an email to an overseas intermediary between him and Deripaska.
The existence of the emails were first reported by The Washington Post, which cited people familiar with the discussions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) shakes hands with Deripaska while visiting the RusVinyl plant in Kstovo, Russia in 2014
The Post said portions of the July 7, 2016, email were read to it, as were other parts of Manafort’s correspondence.
The email was one of tens of thousands of documents turned over to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the Post reported, who along with several congressional committees is investigating alleged Russian efforts to tip the 2016 election in Trump’s favor and whether any members of Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow’s effort.
Both the Trump campaign and the Russian government deny the allegations.
Manafort’s Virginia apartment was raided by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation this past July.
The longtime political consultant and lobbyist is being investigated for possible money laundering and has been targeted as someone who might testify against former colleagues, people familiar with Mueller’s work have said.