Feds Probing Suspicious Financial Transactions of Giuliani Associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman: Report
DIGGING IN
A federal grand jury has subpoenaed the financial records of two of Rudy Giuliani's associates—Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman—and investigators are now scrutinizing their lavish spending at Trump hotels and millions in financial transfers, BuzzFeed News reports. According to sources cited by BuzzFeed, federal investigators found over $3 million in transfers into accounts belonging to Parnas last year as he and Fruman worked to gather dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden. One unnamed U.S. bank is said to have raised concerns about an account belonging to Parnas over apparent signs of money laundering and fraud. Documents also reportedly show that Parnas and Fruman moved money into three different company accounts—two of which were incorporated in Delaware with no known office, phone, or business activities. Along with the transfers, the records also show the pair's lavish spending habits: $7,200 at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. in November 2018 and thousands on Las Vegas hotels, shopping, and dining, according to the report.
The documents obtained by BuzzFeed News do not indicate the sources of the money flowing through their accounts. The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York—which charged Parnas and Fruman with campaign finance violations earlier this month—declined to comment.