Manafort Found Guilty On Tax Fraud & Failure to Report Offshore Financial Accounts (FBAR)

Returning guilty verdicts on 8 counts of bank fraud, subscribing to False Tax Returns, and failure to Disclose Foreign Bank Accounts, jurors largely rejected Manafort’s claim that his protege and onetime co-defendant Rick Gates was responsible for false claims about the longtime GOP operative’s finances and a network of offshore bank accounts that were the source of millions of dollars in payments to U.S. vendors to support Manafort’s luxurious lifestyle. The jurors deadlocked on the other 10 counts.

The government at trial elicited testimony from Manafort’s bookkeeper and tax preparers who said he was deeply involved with matters relating to his personal finances, even though Gates was often their point of contact for day-to-day matters. Gates cut a deal with prosecutors to testify against his former boss and admitted that he embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from Manafort.

Manafort’s attorneys unloaded on Gates at trial, painting the individual described by multiple witnesses as Manafort’s “right-hand man” as a liar and thief who embezzled money to fund a transnational extramarital affair.

But ultimately, the jury either rejected defense’s claims that Gates’ was too untrustworthy to rely on as a witness, or they decided the remaining balance of evidence was sufficient to prove the government’s claims.