Robert Mueller, the Special Counsel unveiled a 32-count indictment against Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates. They have been accused of bank fraud and tax evasion. The new charges against them may spell trouble for the banks that helped them get loans. The banks loaned him millions of dollars against his real estate wealth in New York.
Manafort is Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman and is being investigated in the Russian involvement in America’s 2016 presidential elections. Robert Mueller who is heading the investigations is at liberty to charge culprits in any other crime they may uncover that is different from the Russian interference. A week ago, Robert released indictment towards 13 Russians and 3 Russian companies for directly being involved in spreading propaganda that would influence voting in the 2016 elections.
Bank in Probable Trouble
Serious exposure is pegged on Citizens Bank in Rhodes Islands for its dealings with Manafort. The bank dubbed “Lender B” in court papers lent Paul around $3.4 million based on documents which have so far been determined as fraudulent. It may seem that the bank was duped by Manafort but what comes into question is the bank’s falsified books sent to Mueller’s team when it was investigating Manafort. The bank seemed to try and help Manafort, a fact that is suspicious.
The bank’s spokesman, Peter Lugcht declined to acknowledge whether Lender B was the said Citizens Bank. He also refused to answer whether his bank reported to authorities the fraudulent documents Manafort used to obtain a loan.
The identities of the banks were not disclosed in the court papers but Associated Press, a news agency in the US took the liberty to cross-reference loan amounts and the dates in the indictment as well as publicly available property details in New York in order to speculate the said banks’ identities. The information helped the news agency decipher the names of the banks including Citizens Bank.
Problems the Banks are Suspected to Have
The banks that issued Paul Manafort with the loans may lose their loans as well as invite close investigations from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Kevin Handly a banking lawyer and former Senior Attorney of the Federal Reserve Board stated that he would expect the OCC, upon reading the 32-count indictment to launch an investigation into the matter immediately.
Whether it’s Citizens Bank or bank transcribed as Lender B it is clear that the bank failed to heed the results of its standard due diligence and loaned Manafort $3.4 million dollars.
