President Trump’s former campaign chief has been sentenced to a total of seven years prison time after being found guilty of filing false tax returns, failing to file FBARs, bank fraud, and conspiracy.
As noted in our August 22 blog post, Paul Manafort was convicted for failing to file an FBAR in 2012, and for not reporting or paying taxes on the roughly $30 million that he earned in the Ukraine and subsequently hid offshore. His second trial resulted in a conviction for conspiracy, which added 43 months to his original 47-month sentence.
New charges
We originally anticipated a minimum 10-year jail sentence for the 69-year-old Manafort, and it appears that New York State is determined to ensure that he gets it. Moments after the second sentence was handed down, the State of New York announced that it was filing separate criminal charges against Manafort for actions undertaken between 2015 and 2017. The new indictment includes charges for a total of 16 counts of:
- Residential Mortgage Fraud in the First Degree
- Attempt to Commit Residential Mortgage Fraud in the First Degree
- Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree
- Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree
- Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree
State convictions, unlike federal ones, cannot be pardoned by the President.
Consequences of financial crimes
For over a decade, Manafort failed to pay his taxes and cheated financial institutions out of millions of dollars, all while living a lavish lifestyle. Special counsel Robert Mueller initially sought a prison term of close to 20 years, and it appears that the public outcry that followed the mere 7 ½ -year sentence for Manafort’s federal crimes has been heard.
Experienced tax and financial crimes attorneys
If you are being investigated for or have been already charged with a financial or tax crime, you need qualified and aggressive legal representation. The attorneys at Moskowitz, LLP have extensive experience representing individuals accused of a wide range of financial wrongdoing. For over 30 years we have defended U.S. taxpayers for financial crimes including but not limited to tax evasion, conspiracy, aiding and abetting a tax violation, and other forms of tax fraud. To learn more about our firm, contact our San Francisco office.