Former Trump Campaign Chair Under Investigation For Allegedly Defrauding Investors Of Millions In Real Estate Deals
President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort Jr., and his son-in-law are being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for allegedly defrauding investors of millions of dollars in real estate transactions funded by the political consultant.
Federal investigators are looking into apartments and luxury housing transactions funded by Manafort and a handful of investors. Funding for the properties in New York and California was solicited by Manafort’s son-in-law, Jeffrey Yohai. Other investors included 79-year-old American actor Dustin Hoffman and his son, the New York Times reports.
Yohai, who married Manafort’s daughter in 2013, was accused of creating shell companies to acquire property with Manafort’s cash — and hacked phone records say Manafort had a 50% stake in the companies. The suit was filed in 2016 by an investor who put $2.9M into Yohai and Manafort’s business; Yohai denounced the accusations in a court filing.
The FBI has combed through Yohai’s financial statements, and has subpoenaed records involving a $3.5M loan secured in August through a shell company.
The FBI has not said whether this investigation coincides with its probe into Trump and his campaign team’s ties to Russia, the Times reports. Manafort served as Trump’s chairman through August. He resigned when accusations surfaced that he was paid millions under the table for his consulting services in Ukraine.
