Financial fraud ex-lawyer Trump. Maximum detail

Former lawyer for US President Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to violations of banking, tax and financial laws, as well as electoral laws.

Photo: YouTube / Washington Post screenshot

Earlier, Cohen made a deal with the investigation and surrendered to the FBI agents, after which he was taken to the court of Manhattan in New York, where he confessed in several episodes, writes with the BBC.

In particular, Cohen said under oath that he paid two women for silence at the direction of his client.

Cohen is the subject of an investigation into paying porn star Stormy Daniels money to keep quiet about her alleged sexual relationship with Donald Trump more than 10 years ago. Cohen has previously admitted that he paid Daniels at Trump's request.

Trump had previously stated that he did not know anything about 130 thousand dollars, which Cohen had paid for the silence of the porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 elections of the year.

Pornstar claims to have a relationship with a billionaire in 2006, shortly after Melania Trump gave birth to his son Barron. According to Daniels, the connection lasted for several months.

Cohen and Trump have been working together for over 10 years. Cohen was called the personal lawyer of the billionaire who, on his instructions, settled various conflicts and fulfilled the requests of his boss.

Next is a detailed story about exactly which episodes of fraud Cohen admitted to.

Taxi, real estate and Birkin bag

The former president’s lawyer admitted to participating in the 2012 to 2016 tax evasion scheme. During this time, Cohen earned more than 2,4 a million dollars in revenue from a series of personal loans to a taxi operator in Chicago, who leased a lawyer from his lawyer from a lawyer.

Cohen kept silent about these incomes when he filled out tax returns. He also hid 1,3 million dollars from a New York taxi operator who used his transport licenses.

They were paid to him as a bonus in the amount of 870 thousand dollars and in the form of profit for the use of licenses. To hide his income, Cohen insisted on receiving income personally, and not on the accounts of his companies, which had licenses for carting.

In 2014, Cohen also received a payment of 100 thousand dollars for broker services in a real estate purchase transaction in the aviation town of Ocala in Florida.

About 30 thousand dollars he received for the services of an intermediary for the sale of Birkin bags, prices for which range from 12 to 300 thousand dollars.

He also did not report tax on income in the amount of 200 thousand dollars received from the company, which Cohen provided consultant on real estate and other projects.

In total, Trump's former lawyer "forgot" to report income to the authorities in the amount of $4 million - taxes on this amount would have been a little more than $1,4 million.

Bank fraud

In 2010, Cohen, through companies he owned, issued a guarantee bill for $6,4 million for “bank number one,” whose name was not disclosed in the case file.

A year later, Cohen received a personal credit line for 6 million dollars in the same bank secured in the form of licenses for taxis. In 2014, Cohen increased the credit line by 14 million dollars, thus increasing the liabilities of their companies owning licenses for carting, to 20 millions.

In November 2014, Cohen refinanced his license debt from an unnamed “number one bank” with the help of an unnamed “number two bank,” which shared the debt with a New York-based credit union. Thus, he repaid the debt to “bank number one” and closed a line of credit with it.

In 2013, Trump's former lawyer applied for a loan to buy an apartment on Park Avenue in New York from Bank Three, indicating only a $6,4 million loan from Bank One, without mentioning the loan in the application. line in the amount of 14 million.

In February 2015, to secure financing from an unnamed “number three bank,” Cohen obtained a loan to purchase an $8,5 million summer home, again hiding the $14 million line of credit.

Фото: Depositphotos

“Bank number three” at the same time received a financial statement from Cohen, which he sent to “bank two”, where a multi-million dollar line of credit was indicated, and naturally inquired about its use and the very fact of its opening.

In turn, Trump's former lawyer wrote a statement in which he indicated that the 14 millionth credit line is intact, and he will close it. According to the investigation, Cohen used it completely and exceeded the limit.

Bank Three, in turn, stipulated that the line of credit be closed, and Cohen sent an email to the financial institution saying that the line had been closed in mid-November 2014.

In December 2015, Cohen turned to bank number three to get a line of credit for the difference between the new price of the house and its original value, significantly embellishing his wealth - according to the loan application, it was $40 million, and about a $14 million loan The president's former lawyer did not mention the line.

He also did not indicate the monthly payments of $70 that he paid to “bank number two.” Since Cohen had previously stated in writing that he had not touched the line of credit, the bank had no reason to doubt the veracity of his words, and in April 2016 the lawyer received a loan in the amount of $500.

Women, the election campaign and the “citizen who became president”

In investigative documents, people and companies other than the accused, as a rule, are not called directly, but denoted by letters and numbers.

Charging documents state that since June 2015, Cohen worked for “a company owned by Citizen Number One, located in Manhattan and specializing in real estate.”

Photo: facebook.com/WhiteHouse

Officially, he was not a member of the headquarters of “the number one citizen who later became President of the United States,” but he was a campaign adviser, in this capacity he came on television and had an email address affiliated with the election headquarters.

The indictment documents also name "woman number one", "woman number two", the head and chairman of the "number one media corporation", which, among other things, produces a popular tabloid.

Representatives of the corporation themselves offered their assistance in resolving the situation regarding the negative stories of the citizen-1 and the women with whom he had a relationship. In particular, they offered to find similar stories, buy the rights to them and hide from further publication.

In June 2016, the model and actress, aka Citizen 1, tried to sell the story of her love affair with Citizen 1 between 2006 and 2007, knowing that such a story would be of exceptional value during the election campaign.

She even hired a lawyer (in court documents - “lawyer number one”), who contacted representatives of the media corporation and offered to buy her client’s revelations. In turn, they informed Cohen about the potential deal, and he promised to reimburse all expenses, after which the corporation began negotiations on the purchase.

In August 2016, an agreement was reached to sell the rights to the story of "Woman 1" and her relationship with "any then-married man" in exchange for $150 and a promise to publish her photo on two magazine covers and publish at least 100 articles , which she personally approves.

According to the recognition of Cohen himself and representatives of the other parties, the main purpose of the transaction was to conceal the story from the general public in order to avoid noise during the election campaign.

At the end of August and beginning of September 2016, Cohen and the head of the media corporation agreed to receive $125 thousand to pay for the non-disclosure agreement between “Woman-1” and the corporation.

Trump's former lawyer created a dummy company called Resolution Consultants LLC to complete the transaction. In October, 2016, after signing the agreement, but before Cohen translated 125 thousand dollars, the head of the company informed him that there would be no deal, and he had to break the agreement.

On October 8, 2016, an agent for Woman 2 told a representative of a media corporation that his client was going to make a number of public statements and tell the press that she had a close relationship with Citizen 1. Representatives of the company immediately introduced Cohen and the lawyer of “Woman 2” to each other, who agreed on a deal of $130 thousand in exchange for silence and signing a non-disclosure document.

Cohen did not immediately sign the agreement and pay Woman 2, after which on October 25, even before the deal was completed, her lawyer informed a representative of the media corporation that his client was ready to sign a contract with another publication in order to make the story public. A representative of the media company immediately informed Cohen about this, who agreed to the deal and called the actress’s lawyer.

To carry out this operation, Cohen created another shell company - Essential Consultants LLC, and made a request on its behalf for payment of services in the amount of 131 thousand dollars from the same credit line in “bank number three” for the purchase of a summer house.

The next morning, he came to the bank and sent a transfer on behalf of Essential Consultants LLC to the account of the actress’s lawyer. The purpose of the payment indicated “preliminary lawyer’s fee.” On November 1, 2016, Cohen received a signed non-disclosure agreement and an additional letter to the agreement from the actress’s lawyer.

According to investigators, whom Cohen agreed, he made these transactions and payments in order to influence the course of the 2016 presidential election of the year. He coordinated his actions with more than one member of the election headquarters and in connection with this he held meetings and made phone calls. As a result of his actions, none of the women went to the press until the end of the election campaign.

Affect the election

In January 2017, Cohen asked to be reimbursed for election-related expenses by providing the Manhattan-based real estate company with bank statements from Essential Consultants LLC for $130 plus a $35 wire transfer fee.

A separate receipt for $50 for “technical services” was handwritten.

After receiving the documents, the management of the Manhattan company recounted the net income in the amount subject to taxation, and turned it into 360 thousand dollars, and also added to this amount 60 thousand premiums.

Thus, Cohen had to be paid $420 thousand - at the request of the management of the Manhattan company, by transferring him monthly payments in the amount of $35 thousand for a year.

According to the Federal Election Campaign Act, individual donations to any presidential candidate, including expenses coordinated with him or his political committee, cannot exceed 2700 dollars for the entire election campaign.

Candidates and their committees are not allowed to accept donations above this amount from citizens. Corporations are prohibited from making direct donations to presidential candidates, this prohibition also applies to their expenses related to candidates or its headquarters.

During the trial, Michael Cohen told the judge that his payments to the women were made "under the coordination and direction of the candidate." He openly admitted that he "was part of this type of behavior to influence the election."

According to data from open sources, the details described by the investigators and confirmed by Cohen describe the stories of the former Playboy model Karen MacDougal and porn actresses Stormy Daniels. They both claimed intimate relationships with Donald Trump. The US president categorically denies them.

McDougal also personally named the media corporation - AMI, it owns the National Enquirer magazine, its head, David Pecker, according to open sources, is a longtime friend of Donald Trump.

In 2016, Donald Trump, who previously owned a real estate company based in Manhattan, was elected President of the United States.

What's next?

The Michael Cohen deal with the investigation does not mean a promise of cooperation with investigators regarding other people.

The former Trump lawyer faces five years in prison for tax evasion, 30 years for lying to a bank with government-insured deposits, five years for illegal corporate donations, and another five for making over-the-legal campaign contributions.

In total, he can spend behind bars 45 years.

Cohen was released on bail in the amount of 500 thousand dollars, which made his wife and another person whose name was not disclosed.

He also surrendered his passport and weapons - he was prohibited by the court from traveling outside the United States. The former lawyer of the US President is expected in prison on December 12 at 11 am.

Read also on ForumDaily:

What business failures have experienced the richest man on the planet

The orphan posed as a Russian prince and became a multi-millionaire

How much is the protection of the richest people in the USA and what does this money cost

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.