Arrested Giuliani Aides Spent Lavishly On Strip Clubs And Nightclubs

Rudy Giuliani's aides who were arrested on Thursday for allegedly channeling illegal funds as campaign donations for politicians in the U.S had spent lavishly on strip clubs and nightclubs.

In their attempt to help Giuliani unearth damaging information that could bring down Joe Biden, Lev Parnas and his partner Igor Fruman made whirlwind spending at five star hotels, nightclubs and strip clubs in the U.S and Ukraine, BuzzFeed reported.

Parnas and Fruman were in Kiev during December last year, staying at the Hilton International Hotel, while trying to connect Giuliani with Yuriy Lutsenko, a top prosecutor in Ukraine. It is during this period that a charge of $657 at the Tootsie, which a popular strip club in the Ukraine capital, showed up. Their stay at the Hilton cost them more than $2500 that month.

The bank records of the business accounts that were controlled by Parnas and Fruman as they carried out the backchannel campaign were obtained by BuzzFeed, which revealed the details about their lavish spendings as they tried to find dirt against the Bidens for Giuliani.

The records show that in July, there was a charge of $3182 at a nightclub in West Hollywood and a charge of $1200 at a nightclub called Drai’s in Las Vegas in November. The same month, a charge of $524 was made at Shelly’s Back Room, which is a cigar lounge located close to the White House.

Parnas and his partner also splurged on five-star hotels, with expenses of nearly $20,000 being incurred at hotels in Washington and New York. Similarly, they spent huge at the Hilton, during their stay in Kiev.

While Parnas was spending and globe-trotting like a freewheeling CEO, he was being chased by creditors and faced lawsuits in the U.S. He has also faced multiple court judgments in the past for personal debts and got evicted from homes twice for not paying the rent.

The records also showed the donations that Parnas and Fruman made to GOP candidates including a $325,000 contribution to a Trump-aligned super PAC. The source of these funds is not clear and is currently under investigation.

Parnas had earlier told BuzzFeed that he had set up the meetings between Giuliani and the Ukrainian prosecutors because he felt it was his duty and that he was not paid for it. He also claimed to have met President Trump a number of times but declined to reveal what they discussed.

The lawyer for Parnas and Fruman, John Dowd, did not comment on the transactions made by them. According to experts, the record of the transactions would act as critical evidence in the investigations against them.