Two Trump donors charged with campaign finance crimes have pleaded not guilty before a federal court.<\/p>\n
New York prosecutors have accused Soviet-born businessmen Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman of conspiring to funnel foreign money to US candidates.<\/p>\n
They are associates of President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and helped peddle debunked corruption claims against Trump rival Joe Biden.<\/p>\n
The men were arrested attempting to leave the US earlier this month.<\/p>\n
Both men are US citizens. Mr Parnas, 46, was born in Ukraine, Mr Fruman, 53, in Belarus.<\/p>\n
Two other men, Andrey Kukushkin, a Ukrainian, and David Correia, a US citizen, were also charged in the same case, and both pleaded not guilty last week.<\/p>\n
It is the first case to result from the Ukraine investigation, though neither the president nor Mr Giuliani are accused of criminal wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
In a brief statement to reporters outside court on Wednesday, Mr Parnas said: “I look forward to defending myself vigorously in court and I am certain that, in time, the truth will be revealed and I will be vindicated.”<\/p>\n
Mr Giuliani in May referred to Mr Parnas and Mr Fruman as his clients.<\/p>\n
US media report they helped Mr Giuliani connect with Ukrainian prosecutors as he attempted to press Ukraine to investigate unsubstantiated corruption allegations against former Vice-President Mr Biden and his son, Hunter, who worked with a Ukrainian company.<\/p>\n
Mr Parnas and Mr Fruman were arrested at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on 10 October, where they were to board a flight to Vienna, Austria.<\/p>\n
Democratic lawmakers leading the impeachment inquiry against Mr Trump have demanded to interview Mr Parnas and Mr Fruman regarding their work with Mr Giuliani in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
The pair have been charged with conspiracy, lying and falsifying records.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors say they attempted to circumvent US finance laws barring foreign political donations through a money-laundering scheme. More than 50 bank accounts have been subpoenaed in the investigation.<\/p>\n
They are also accused of setting up a bogus company to conceal the foreign sources of their funding.<\/p>\n
According to court documents, they illegally donated $325,000 (\u00a3264,000) in 2018 to a pro-Trump political action committee – believed to be referred to as “Committee-1” in the indictment – in the name of this company.<\/p>\n
Together with this donation, Mr Parnas and Mr Fruman gave upwards of $400,000 to Republican campaigns in just a few months – contributions that allowed them to meet top Republicans, including Mr Trump.<\/p>\n
In the complaint that sparked the Ukraine inquiry on Capitol Hill, a whistleblower noted concerns that Mr Trump was “using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country” in the upcoming presidential election.<\/p>\n
The whistleblower report repeatedly mentioned Mr Giuliani’s involvement in Ukraine – and his work with Mr Parnas and Mr Fruman, who are referred to as his “two associates”.<\/p>\n
Mr Fruman and Mr Parnas also allegedly raised thousands of dollars in funds for an unnamed congressman to seek their assistance in removing the then-US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch.<\/p>\n
This was allegedly done in part by “the request of one or more Ukrainian government officials”.<\/p>\n
Ms Yovanovitch is one of several state department officials to have testified about the Ukraine matter before Congress as a part of the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the top US diplomat to Ukraine said relations between the two nations had been “fundamentally undermined… for domestic political reasons”.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"