16 August 2016: Trump’s campaign chairman suspected in secret payment by Yanukovich’s political party
Donald Trump's campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, has been named in an investigation by Ukrainian authorities looking at whether he and others received millions in illegal payments from Ukraine's former pro-Russian ruling party, according to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials.
Moreover, criminal prosecutors are investigating a group of offshore shell companies that helped members of Mr. Yanukovych’s inner circle finance their lavish lifestyles, including a palatial presidential residence with a private zoo, golf course, and tennis court. A recent report of Artem Sytnyk the chief of Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau says Mr. Manafort is not the only one on the list, who has got money. “But I underline that mentioning of Manafort’s name, doesn’t mean that he had received all money, as there were signatures of other people”, he claims.
The investigation is looking into "shadow accounting" and potentially illegal payments made by Yanukovich to Manafort and other Ukrainian election officials, according to Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption.
Mr. Manafort’s involvement with moneyed interests in Russia and Ukraine was recently illuminated and due to NY Times report , it has interconnection with Mr. Trump’s favorable statements about Mr. Putin and his annexation of Crimea to the suspected Russian hacking of Democrats’ emails.
"I have never received a single 'off-the-books cash payment' as falsely 'reported' by The New York Times, nor have I ever done work for the governments of Ukraine or Russia," Mr. Manafort said in a statement through his lawyer Richard A.Hibey.
