Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office dropped more potentially damning details — from an allegation of “additional criminal conduct” to personal financial troubles — in a response to Paul Manafort’s request to change his bail proposal on Friday.
The newly discovered alleged criminal conduct “includes a series of bank frauds and bank fraud conspiracies,” a filing from the special counsel’s office said on Friday night.
No new charges have been filed in open court against Manafort since he pleaded not guilty to nine counts of money laundering and making false statements about his business on October 30. But CNN has reported that additional indictments against the former Trump campaign chairman are being prepared.
In their filing Friday, prosecutors allege Manafort received a $9 million mortgage on a house of his in Fairfax, Virginia, by giving the Federal Savings Bank doctored business statements that overstated his wealth. The special counsel’s office said it could show the court evidence of this bank fraud “and other bank frauds and conspiracies” at its next hearing, which has not yet been set.
Manafort proposed the house in Fairfax as one of four properties that could secure his bail. Another is an apartment he owns in Trump Tower in New York, which is at risk of foreclosure, the prosecutors said.
The prosecutors also noted that Manafort has “questioned his ability to maintain the payments on all his mortgages” and that members of his family aren’t “willing to assume the risk” of helping him.
Manafort earned a judge’s approval to be released from house arrest two months ago, if he showed proper documentation and could secure a $10 million bail with assets and properties. He has not been able to clear the judge’s hurdles, and proposed a different approach to securing his bail Friday afternoon.
