Posted
Two foreign-born Florida businessmen tied to
President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani have been
arrested on campaign finance violations resulting from a US$325,000
(AU$480,000) donation to a political action committee supporting Mr
Trump's re-election.
Key points:
- Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were central to Rudy Giuliani's efforts to convince Ukraine officials to investigate the Bidens
- The Florida businessmen have now been arrested on campaign finance violations
- The indictment alleges they "sought to advance their personal financial interests and the political interests of at least one Ukrainian government official"
In the latest development in a political drama that threatens Mr Trump's presidency, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were arrested on a four-count indictment that includes charges of conspiracy, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and falsification of records.
They come as the Democratic-led House of Representatives conducts an impeachment inquiry into the Republican president centred on Mr Trump's request in a July telephone call for Ukraine's president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading Democratic rival in the 2020 presidential election.
Mr Parnas and Mr Fruman were central to Mr Giuliani's efforts to convince government officials in Ukraine to investigate business dealings by Mr Biden and his son Hunter in the war-torn former Soviet republic.
Records show that Mr Parnas and Mr Fruman used wire transfers from a corporate entity they controlled to make a US$325,000 donation to the America First Action committee in 2018.
However, wire transfer records that became public through a lawsuit show the corporate entity reported as making the transaction was not the true source of the money.
The indictment says Mr Parnas and Mr Fruman "sought to advance their personal financial interests and the political interests of at least one Ukrainian government official with whom they were working" and took steps to conceal it from third parties, including creditors.
They created a limited liability corporation, Global Energy Producers (GEP), and "intentionally caused certain large contributions to be reported in the name of GEP instead of in their own names," according to the indictment.
Prosecutors charge the two men falsely claimed the contributions came from a liquefied natural gas business; at that point, the company had no income or significant assets, according to the indictment.
The big PAC donation in May 2018 was part of a flurry of political spending tied to Mr Parnas and Mr Fruman, with at least $478,000 in donations flowing to GOP campaigns and PACs in little more than two months.
The money enabled the relatively unknown entrepreneurs to quickly gain access to the highest levels of the Republican Party, including face-to-face meetings with Mr Trump at the White House and Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Mr Parnas and Mr Fruman also helped arrange a January meeting in New York between Ukraine's former top prosecutor, Yuri Lutsenko, and Mr Giuliani, as well as other meetings with top government officials.
Mr Giuliani's efforts to launch a Ukrainian corruption investigation were echoed by Mr Trump in his July 25 call with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy — a conversation that is now at the heart of a burgeoning congressional impeachment inquiry.
Nancy Pelosi, who as House Speaker is the top Democrat in the chamber, launched the impeachment inquiry last month after the revelation that Trump had sought foreign interference in the 2020 US election.
A whistleblower complaint by an unnamed intelligence official makes reference to "associates" of Mr Giuliani in Ukraine who were attempting to make contact with Mr Zelenskiy's team, though it's not clear that refers to Mr Parnas and Mr Fruman.
That could put the two men — who were arrested at Dulles International Airport — squarely in the middle of the investigation into Mr Giuliani's activities.
Two other men were charged in the case.
AP/Reuters
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