US DoJ Reportedly Tries to Sue Paul Manafort for Almost $3 Million Over Unreported Foreign Accounts

Manafort had already been convicted on tax and bank fraud charges, as well as for failing to register as a foreign agent lobbying in the interests of Ukraine. He was also probed over since-debunked allegations of collusion between Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia.

The US Department of Justice is suing Donald Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, for almost $3 million on charges of allegedly hiding his foreign bank accounts from the American tax authorities.

Quoting obtained lawsuit documents, the Daily Mail reported that the DoJ suspects Manafort of keeping 22 foreign bank accounts, which he allegedly used to receive consultancy payments from former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, hidden from the authorities to avoid paying taxes.

Under the US law Manafort had to report any foreign bank accounts holding over $10,000 on their balance sheets.

The report says the DoJ discovered Manafort's undeclared accounts in the UK, Cyprus, and in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. They were registered in the name of either shell companies in Manafort's control, or had him listed as a signature authority, the Daily Mail said.

The lawsuit does not detail how much was allegedly hidden in these accounts, but reportedly suggested that by 2014 most of them were empty. However, it did say that two accounts held up to $200,000 that year and another one held around $443,000, the Daily Mail reported.

The DoJ reportedly seeks to collect a total of $2,976,350 in fines, penalties and interest for failure to report foreign assets and pay due income tax as a result.

Manafort was notified of the fines and interest by the Treasury in July 2020, the lawsuit reportedly said. The DoJ reportedly believes that Manafort "knowingly, intentionally" conspired to file incomplete tax return between 2006 and 2015.

The political consultant's lawyer, Jeffrey Neiman, accused the DoJ of filing a frivolous lawsuit over his client "simply failing to file a tax form".

"Mr. Manafort was aware the Government was going to file the suit because he has tried for months to resolve this civil matter. Nonetheless, the Government insisted on filing this suit simply to embarrass Mr. Manafort", Neiman said.

Manafort was one of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign aides. He later received a jail sentence as a result of the special counsel Mueller's probe into alleged collusion between Russia and Trump's 2016 presidential election campaign.

While the investigation found no evidence of collusion, it did accuse several of Trump's aides of other crimes — including Manafort, who was convicted on charges of tax evasion and failure to register as a foreign agent representing Ukraine's interests.

Trump later pardoned his former campaign manager in 2020, while calling the RussiaGate probe a part of the "witch hunt" organised by the Democratic Party against him and his allies.

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