Paul Manafort trial day 8: Prosecutors expect to wrap up case soon

FAN Editor

CBS/AP August 9, 2018, 11:44 AM

  • The fraud trial for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort enters its eighth day as prosecutors say they plan to rest their case by Friday. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III has been pushing prosecutors to make their case quickly. Manafort’s defense team will have a chance to offer witnesses and other evidence after the government finishes its argument.

    Reporting by Paula Reid, Clare Hymes, Kristine Guillaume, Bryce Klehm and Parita Desai.

    Follow along for live updates of the trial:

  • Manafort misrepresented property on loan application

    Paul Manafort’s trial continued Thursday with testimony from government witness Melinda James, formerly Melinda Francis, a Citizens Bank mortgage loan assistant who was involved in processing Manafort’s mortgage applications.

    Manafort signed off on a loan application on his Howard Street property that claimed the property was a secondary residence, even though — as James found when she checked the site Streetwise — it was used as a rental property (and generating over $100,000 in income, according to the prosecution).

    In correspondence that cc’d Manafort, Rick Gates also told the bank that a loan had been forgiven and would be included as income (a CPA testified earlier that she had major misgivings about this), and that Manafort had decided not to move forward with a mortgage on another property that bank employees had questioned. The loan was approved and signed in person by Manafort.

  • Prosecutors aim to wrap trial by Friday

    Prosecutors in Manafort’s fraud trial say they have eight witnesses left and expect to rest their case Friday. Greg Andres, an attorney with special counsel Robert Mueller’s office, says the prosecution is running ahead of schedule and that none of the remaining witnesses should take more than an hour for questioning.

    So far, 18 witnesses have testified in the former Trump campaign chairman’s trial, including his longtime business partner Rick Gates.

    Judge Ellis has been pushing prosecutors to hurry through their case. Manafort’s defense team will have a chance to offer witnesses and other evidence after the government finishes.

  • Wednesday trial highlights: Manafort spent $15.5M from offshore accounts for personal expenses

    On Wednesday, defense attorneys pressed Rick Gates, Manafort’s former business associate, on details of his personal life before a packed courtroom.

    Jurors also heard from FBI forensic accountant Morgan Magionos, the 17th witness to testify. Magionos, who is a CPA and a certified fraud examiner, said she had been assigned to the Manafort investigation to conduct a financial analysis.

    She identified Manafort as the person in control of the 31 foreign bank accounts. Magionos also detailed personal payments made by Manafort to companies and services through his many offshore accounts. The payments were often in the millions. The grand total of Manafort’s payments from his offshore accounts to vendors and for properties came out to $15.5 million over the course of 2010-2014, according to Magionos.

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