NY publicist says Manafort wanted to pay him for Ukraine work via offshore accounts - to make...
Source: Business Insider
NY publicist says Manafort wanted to pay him for Ukraine work via offshore accounts — to make 'way more money'
A New York publicist who has represented clients including former Trump Organization adviser Felix Sater and Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov says he was asked by Paul Manafort and Rick Gates if he could avoid registering with the Justice Department as a foreign agent while he worked for them — and whether he would agree to be paid from offshore accounts.
The claim mirrors some of the details laid out in an indictment of Manafort and Gates as part of an investigation by the office of special counsel Robert Mueller. The two men have pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include money laundering, failure to file reports of foreign bank accounts, and filing false or misleading statements about their foreign lobbying work.
Ronn Torossian, the CEO of 5WPR, told Business Insider he was approached by Manafort and Gates in 2012. On February 22 of that year, Gates emailed Torossian with a request:
"I would like to speak with you regarding an opportunity to support a foreign government client that I represent. I would like to walk you through some of the details via phone and then schedule a meeting with you and others on your team that you might want to bring in."
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/manafort-and-gates-approached-ronn-torossian-for-ukraine-lobbying-work-2017-10
