Trump's ex-campaign manager Manafort faces bank and tax fraud charges
US President Donald Trump's former campaign chief Paul Manafort has gone on trial over bank and tax fraud charges.
Manafort, 69, went to court on Tuesday facing eighteen charges that stem from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian alleged interference in the 2016 US election.
However, his charges are not related to the things he did while serving for three months as the chairman of Trump's presidential campaign, but to lobbying activities he did on behalf of the former government of Ukraine.
The evidence gathered by Mueller’s team would show that Manafort funneled over $60m in proceeds from his Ukrainian political consulting through offshore accounts and had concealed a “significant” portion of it from the the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the prosecutors said.
He used that “secret income” to pay for personal expenses such as a $21,000 watch, a $15,000 jacket made of ostrich in addition to over $6m worth of property.
“He got whatever he wanted,” assistant US Attorney Uzo Asonye said in his opening statement to the six-man six-woman jury in the Alexandria, Virginia courtroom.
"A man inside this courtroom believed the law did not apply to him," said Asonye, adding, "Paul Manafort placed himself and his money above the law."
"All of these charges boil down to one simple issue -- that Paul Manafort lied," he stated.
Manafort's defense lawyers sought to put the blame on his former business partner Rick Gates, who was also charged by Mueller but pleaded guilty to lesser charges and is currently cooperating with prosecutors.
"Paul's trust was misplaced," defense attorney Thomas Zehnle said. "Rick Gates took advantage of this trust.
"Rick was handling the financial operations while he was lining his own pockets."
The trial is slated to last about three weeks.
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