US Federal Prosecutor: Manafort Opened More Than 30 Foreign Bank Accounts

On Tuesday, former Trump campaign official Paul Manafort's first trial began in the US, arising from Russiagate which started in early 2017 with an investigation of alleged Russia's meddling in the 2016 US election campaign.

The US prosecutors said in the government's opening statement that Manafort "felt tax and banking laws did not apply to him", adding that former Trump's campaign chairman made his wealth from political work in Ukraine. Moreover, US prosecutors told the federal judge that he had opened more than 30 bank accounts in three foreign countries to "receive and hide" his income, describing how Manafort spent millions of dollars on renovating his properties and more than a half million dollars on "fancy clothes" including a $15,000 jacket covered with ostrich skin. 

However, Manafort's attorney, Thomas Zehnle, told jurors that "this case is about taxes and trust," adding in his opening statement that "his trust in Rick Gates was misplaced," Zehnle was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Manafort's attorney made clear the defendant will go after Manafort associate Rick Gates, who pleaded guilty in February to conspiring against the United States and lying to investigators, agreeing to cooperate with the investigation.

Meanwhile, Manafort has pleaded not guilty to all 18 charges, which center on allegations that he hid much of the $60 million he earned in Ukraine in offshore bank accounts, thus evading taxes.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has granted earlier immunity to five witnesses expected to take the stand against Paul Manafort during the trial. The US government's first witness was Tad Devine, who has recalled his work with Paul Manafort in Ukraine to assist the then-president Viktor Yanukovich.

US prosecutors said that they would not present evidence of alleged collusion at this trial because the charges against Manafort largely pre-date his five months of work for the Trump campaign. However, investigators are seeking to provide details of Manafort's work for an allegedly pro-Russian political party in Ukraine, raising the possibility that the new infromation about his alleged Russian connections could emerge, Reuters reported. Paul Manafort has filed earlier a motion to have details of that work excluded from trial.

In October, Mueller indicted Manafort on banking and tax-fraud charges related to laundering more than $30 million worth of income, including for work he did in Ukraine from 2006 to 2014. Manafort has also been charged for acting as an unregistered foreign agent and making false statements.

In February, a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia charged Manafort and his longtime business associate Rick Gates with 32 counts of bank fraud, tax fraud and failure to report foreign bank accounts. Manafort pleaded not guilty to those charges, while Gates pleaded guilty to reduced charges and is cooperating with the investigation.

The Virginia tiral will be followed by a second one in a court in District of Columbia in September on charges of illegal foreign lobbying and money laundering.