According to the indictment, the money was funneled through accounts in tax havens such as the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, the Seychelles, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines. The entire time both men falsely reported to U.S. authorities that they controlled no foreign bank accounts. They also failed to report operating as agents for a foreign government. It is this failure to report as a foreign agent that exposes the pair to the first round of money laundering charges.
Manafort is accused of transferring almost $20 million from offshore accounts to domestic accounts that he controlled. The money was used to support an extravagant lifestyle and the purchase of multiple multi-million-dollar properties including the ownership of an apartment in Trump Towers. None of this income was reported on his U.S. tax returns which could result in numerous future counts of tax fraud.
Escorted by his lawyer, Manafort turned himself in to the Washington Field Office of the FBI. Later in the day, appearing before the Federal Court in Washington D.C., Manafort’s lawyer entered not guilty pleas to all the current indictments.
