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Robert Mueller files fresh indictments against ex-Trump campaign aides Paul Manafort and Rick Gates

Paul Manafort is accused of hiding income and defrauding banks in the charges brought by Robert Mueller - AP
Paul Manafort is accused of hiding income and defrauding banks in the charges brought by Robert Mueller - AP

Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman and another aide have been handed a new 32-count indictment by the Russian election meddling investigation. 

Paul Manafort and his colleague Richard Gates were accused of hiding income and defrauding banks in the charges brought by Robert Mueller, the special counsel. 

The indictment alleges that $75 million flowed through offshore accounts and that the US government was not made aware of financial interests overseas. 

It is not the first time the men have been charged by Mr Mueller. They are pleading not guilty to a string of similar charges brought last year. 

Mr Manafort was the Trump campaign manager for around three months before quitting after his lobbying links to Ukraine made headlines. Mr Gates was a more junior campaign aide. 

Rick Gates departs Federal District Court in Washington - Credit: AP
Rick Gates departs Federal District Court in Washington Credit: AP

The charges do not relate to either man’s time on the election campaign but rather relates to their business work in the preceding years. 

The 37-page indictment outlines how the pair allegedly had a string of bank accounts and business entities across the world though which millions of dollars flowed through. 

The pair had business “entities” in Cyprus, the Grenadines and Britain as well as in US states such as Virginia, New York, Delaware and Florida, it claimed. 

The indictment alleged Mr Manafort and Mr Gates “funnelled millions of dollars in payments into numerous foreign nominee companies and bank accounts, opened by them and their accomplices in nominee names and in various foreign countries”. 

Read more | Russia investigation

It also said: “Manafort and Gates hid the existence and ownership of the foreign companies and bank accounts, falsely and repeatedly reporting to their tax preparers and to the United States that they had no foreign bank accounts.” 

The indictment described how tax return forms failed to flag foreign bank accounts and concealed income from the US Treasury. 

Sixteen of the 32 counts relate to false individual income tax returns, seven were for failure to report foreign accounts, five for bank fraud conspiracy and four for bank fraud. 

It is unclear how the pair will plead at the time of reporting. They pleaded not guilty to charges brought against them by Mr Mueller last year. 

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