A bank executive said he found several red flags with Paul Manafort’s finances while the former Trump campaign chairman was being considered for $16.5 million (Dh60.61m) in bank loans.
The testimony, on the 10th day of Mr Manafort’s financial fraud trial, comes as the prosecution is expected to rest its case later on Monday.
James Brennan, a vice president at Federal Savings Bank, says Mr Manafort failed to disclose mortgages on his loan application. He said he also found several “inconsistencies” in the amount of income Mr Manafort reported for his business.
That information led senior executives to reject one of the loans. But Mr Brennan said Federal Savings Bank chairman Stephen Calk overruled that decision.
“It closed because Mr Calk wanted it to close,” Mr Brennan said.
Other witnesses have said Mr Calk pushed the loans through because he wanted a plum post in the Trump administration.
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Read more:
Longtime Manafort deputy Rick Gates admits embezzlement
'We broke the law' Manafort protege tells court on return to stand
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Mr Brennan said the Chicago bank lost $11.8m because it had to write-off a significant portion of two loans it made to Mr Manafort. He said they were the two largest loans the bank had made when they were issued in late 2016 and early 2017.
Mr Manafort is accused of fraudulently obtaining the loans by inflating his income and concealing other financial information. He is fighting the charges.
Mr Brennan, who testified under an immunity deal, said the bank found several problems with the information Mr Manafort provided that should have raised questions about his character and whether he was providing inaccurate information to obtain the loans.
Chief among those problems, Mr Brennan testified, was that Mr Manafort failed to disclose that he had defaulted on two of his loans.
Mr Manafort checked "no" when asked on his loan application if any of his other loans were in default. But in fact, Mr Brennan testified, Mr Manafort was in default for a $5.7m loan he had taken out for a Los Angeles property and had also stopped paying on a $6.5m loan on a New York residence.
Mr Brennan said there also were other “red flags” that made Mr Manafort’s loan application look shaky. There were discrepancies between the income his company listed on a 2015 profit and loan statement and the income listed in Mr Manafort’s 2015 tax return. And Mr Brennan was concerned about an unpaid $300,000 American Express card debt for luxury New York Yankees season tickets.
Prosecutors said last week that they would wrap up their case against Mr Manafort on Monday. Defence lawyers have not said whether they expect to call any witnesses after that.
The proceedings were halted for hours on Friday by mysterious backstage discussions between the judge and attorneys for both sides. US District Judge TS Ellis III recessed the trial without explanation after huddling with his bailiff and attorneys from special counsel Robert Mueller’s office and Mr Manafort’s lawyers for more than 20 minutes.
At one point, Judge Ellis left the courtroom and headed toward the jury room. After bringing court back into session, he reminded jurors several times that they weren’t to discuss the tax evasion and bank fraud case at all. That included telling them to not even comment on the attire of any witnesses.
The trial is the first to emerge from Mr Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election, but neither Mr Manafort nor his long-time deputy, Rick Gates, have been charged in connection with their Trump campaign work.
The prosecution has called more than 20 witnesses, including Mr Gates, and introduced a trove of documentary evidence as they’ve sought to prove Mr Manafort defrauded banks and concealed millions of dollars in offshore bank accounts from the IRS.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
RACECARD
6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (PA) $50,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
6.35pm: Festival City Stakes – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
7.10pm: Dubai Racing Club Classic – Listed (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 2,410m
7.45pm: Jumeirah Classic Trial – Conditions (TB) $150,000 (T) 1,400m
8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 2 (TB) $250,000 (D) 1,600m
8.55pm: Cape Verdi – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,600m
9.30pm: Dubai Dash – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,000m
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014%20PRO%20MAX
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
23-man shortlist for next six Hall of Fame inductees
Tony Adams, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Les Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Owen, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Patrick Viera, Ian Wright.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs: 2019 Mercedes-Benz C200 Coupe
Price, base: Dh201,153
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 204hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 300Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.7L / 100km
Quick%20facts
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Alita: Battle Angel
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Stars: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Keean Johnson
Four stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
HWJN
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