Former Trump Adviser Paul Manafort To Pay Millions to DOJ Over 20 Undeclared Foreign Bank Accounts

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File

Paul Manafort, who ran Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, settled a civil suit brought by the Department of Justice for $3.15 million, according to newly unsealed court documents.

The DOJ sued Manafort in April of 2022 for allegedly failing to report some 20 overseas bank accounts. Manafort has long been at the center of various legal battles and allegations of criminal wrongdoing related to his work on behalf of foreign governments, notably the ousted pro-Russian president of Ukraine.

Manafort, who worked in the past for dictators in countries like the Philipines and Zaier, allegedly kept undisclosed bank accounts in Cyprus, the United Kingdom, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines — dating back to 2013 and 2014.

Manafort was convicted on various counts related to bank and tax fraud, as well as his political work in Ukraine in 2019. He was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in two different criminal proceedings. Then-President Donald Trump pardoned Manafort in December 2020, in a highly controversial move before leaving office.

Manafort was a central figure in Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia probe and his prosecution showed that he lied to investigators about sharing internal Trump campaign polling with a suspected Russian intelligence operative named Konstantin Kilimnik.

The settlement between Manafort and the DOJ was filed on Feb. 22, but first reported on Monday. Axios noted “the documents did not specify when or how Manafort would pay the settlement.

“Despite having defenses, Mr. Manafort has chosen to put this chapter of his life completely behind him. Paul has moved on,” Manafort’s lawyer Jeffrey Neiman told Axios in a statement. Manafort was one of several campaign managers Trump had in 2016, along with Steve Bannon — who also faced serious legal trouble and received a pardon.

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