Rudy Giuliani's Associate Pleads Guilty on Trump-Related Illegal Campaign Finance Charges

The case against the associate comes as prosecutors are weighing whether to charge Giuliani himself – on accusations of acting as an unregistered foreign agent during his time as Donald Trump's lawyer.

Belarus-born US businessman Igor Fruman, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani, has pleaded guilty on one count of illegal US campaign contributions. Fruman admitted to soliciting a donation from a foreign national, but the name of the latter was not revealed in court documents.

He did so upon reaching a deal with prosecutors, which, however, does not mandate his cooperation on other counts. The businessman could face up to five years in prison.

"Mr. Fruman is not cooperating with the government and has determined that this is the fairest and best way to put the past two years of his life behind him", the man's lawyer said.

Fruman and his Ukrainian colleague, Lev Parnas, who was also charged with illegal campaign financing, both earlier pleaded not guilty to concealing a $325,000 donation to Trump's 2020 re-election campaign and lying to the Federal Election Commission. Fruman purportedly planned to build a marijuana business in the US, profiting from the donation.

The change in Fruman's plea might ultimately affect the former lawyer of Donald Trump - Rudy Giuliani, who tapped the Belarus-born businessman to find damaging information against Joe Biden and his son Hunter, specifically regarding their dealings with Ukraine. Giuliani has not been charged with any misconduct yet, but prosecutors suspect him of violating laws regulating the activities of foreign agents and specifically of failing to register as one.