Paul Manafort’s Bank Records Sought By Justice Department In Russia Probe

As a part of federal probe into Russia’s link with Donald Trump’s campaign team, the Justice Department sought the president’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort’s bank records, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Manafort came under scanner for his financial dealings and his possible role in alleged ties between Trump’s associates and Russia.

The department requested Manafort’s bank records from Citizen Financial Group Inc. in April, according to the Journal. The report added that it was unclear whether that was the only bank from where prosecutors sought Manafort’s records.

Apart from this, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. are looking into real-estate transactions made by Manafort, the Journal reported.

In March, a NBC News report said a bank in Cyprus investigated accounts linked to Manafort. However, he closed those accounts. Sources told the news outlet at the time that he was linked to 15 bank accounts and 10 companies in the country. Court documents reportedly showed at least one of those accounts received funds from Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who is known to be a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Rather than giving out the information, Manafort shut the accounts before a 2012 banking crisis following which Cyprus government took over the bank and told NBC the assets it took over did not include any accounts linked to Manafort.

In the same month, the Associated Press (AP) reported that before taking up job as Trump’s campaign manager Manafort secretly worked for Deripaska.

“We are now of the belief that this model can greatly benefit the Putin Government if employed at the correct levels with the appropriate commitment to success,” Manafort wrote in the 2005 memo to Deripaska. The effort, Manafort wrote, “will be offering a great service that can re-focus, both internally and externally, the policies of the Putin government.” with a plan to “greatly benefit the Putin Government,” according to the AP.

In a separate report in March, the AP reported that according to international wire transfers and public court documents filed in a 2014 legal dispute in the Cayman Islands, Manafort was suspected of routing financial transactions through Cyprus.

“AP found that a Manafort-linked company received a $1 million payment in October 2009 from a mysterious firm through the Bank of Cyprus. The $1 million payment left the account the same day — split in two, roughly $500,000 disbursements to accounts with no obvious owner,” the AP report said.

He stepped down from the role of Trump’s campaign chief last year after coming under radar for his financial transactions and alleged lobbying work for Viktor Yanukovych, the ousted pro-Russia Ukrainian president and other pro-Russia figures. He also reportedly set up a shell corporation and took $13 million worth loans from Trump-related businesses on the day he stepped down.