Table of Content
He helped to form a pro-Trump nonprofit group called America First Policies but was removed from the organization after his involvement with Manafort's overseas ventures was exposed. A 2011 release about Gates becoming a member of the board of directors of ID Watchdog, a Denver-based identity-theft protection firm, said Gates had more than 15 years of "international political, finance and business experience working for multinational firms." Gates met Manafort more than three decades ago, when Gates was an intern at the Washington consulting firm of Black, Manafort, Stone, Kelly according to a July story in The New York Times. Gates joined the Davis Manafort company in 2006 and worked with Manafort in Eastern Europe. Rick Gates, the former Trump campaign adviser who was a key witness in the federal probe into alleged Russian influence on the 2016 U.S. election, sold his home at 206 Virginia Ave. in the city’s West End for $3.15 million. Unsealed court documents Wednesday revealed prosecutors believed the men have enough assets and foreign connections to allow them to "live comfortably" outside of the United States, making them flight risks.
The charges are linked to an investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russia's alleged meddling in the election. Manafort and Gates have been under home confinement since they made their first court appearance on Oct. 30. They're facing a 12-count indictment that includes allegations of money laundering, failing to file reports about foreign financial holdings, failing to register as agents for the Ukrainian government, and making false statements about their lobbying activities overseas. Gates, who struck a plea deal with Federal prosecutors including an agreement to testify against Manafort, became the government's star witness during Manafort's trial. Gates said he concealed the accounts and the income from U.S. tax authorities by disguising the income as loans with falsified bank loan documents. Gates also testified that he embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from Manafort, and funded an expensive extramarital relationship with money embezzled from Manafort.
’Tis the season for food justice, by Julianne Malveaux
Among the clients Gates worked with were Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, taking over this work when Davis left the firm in 2008 to work on the presidential campaign of John McCain. Together, they were instrumental in brokering a meeting between McCain and Deripaska in 2006. Gates and Manafort were both indicted in October 2017 on charges related to their consultation work with pro-Russian political figures in Ukraine. The investigation into Manafort intensified after Mueller was named as special counsel in May. Mueller has hired a team of prosecutors who have examined Manafort’s financial and tax history stretching back 11 years to January 2006, while he was working in Ukraine. Since midnight network news crews have been camped outside the $1.8 million home of former President Donald Trump campaign official Rick Gates.
The Podesta Group is headed by Tony Podesta, the brother of John Podesta, the former chief of staff of the Obama White House. RICHMOND, Va. – One of the two men indicted Monday for conspiracy against the United States lives in Richmond, in the Westmoreland Place subdivision off Cary Street Road. National and local news crews spent much of Monday camped outside of his family’s Virginia Street home, though no notable activity was reported. Gates, 45, who has a degree from the College of William & Mary, has worked with Manafort at consulting firms since 2006. Built in 1920, the two-story house totals five bedrooms, five bathrooms and two half-baths.
Deion Sanders trades Jackson State for Colorado
In addition to Manafort’s Ukraine business dealings, his real estate dealings, overseas business ventures and bank accounts in offshore havens like Cyprus have also come under scrutiny. They are the first two officials in Trump’s orbit charged in connection with the special counsel investigation, which is exploring whether Trump’s actions surrounding the firing of former FBI Director James Comey amount to obstruction of justice. Mueller has taken a broad approach to his mandate that includes a focus on the financial dealings of Trump’s team. The Mueller investigation also resulted in a guilty plea from former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos.
He admitted to lying to the FBI about his interactions with Russians linked to the Kremlin. Manafort resigned as Donald Trump's campaign chairman in August 2016 after a Ukrainian government corruption probe found Manafort received nearly $13 million from a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party. In June 2017, when Manafort registered as a foreign agent, he reported an income of $17 million from the Ukraine's Party of Regions. Manafort's lawyer, Kevin Downing, made remarks after Monday's hearing just outside the courthouse distancing the charges from allegations the Trump campaign may have colluded with Russia in order to sway the 2016 presidential election. Four people, including two from Williamsburg, have been charged in connection with human trafficking at a commercial laundry business.
Related to this story
The project fell apart, and Deripaska sued Manafort and Gates in the Cayman Islands for mishandling his money. Deripaska, a Russian citizen, has offered to cooperate with Capitol Hill investigations in exchange for immunity. The indictment alleges that Gates was instrumental in helping Manafort defraud U.S. institutions and that they both concealed from the U.S. their work with the Ukraine and its political parties and leaders.
According to a press release from a Denver-based company ID Watchdog, Gates joined the board of directors for the consumer protection company in 2011 but resigned from the board on November 9, 2016 – one day after the presidential election. While awaiting trial, Manafort was released on $10 million bond and Gates was released on $5 million bond. Prosecutors described them as flight risks, and as a condition of pretrial release, both men surrendered their passports and were placed under house arrest. Army Lieutenant Colonel Richard W. Gates Jr., who is also the founder and CEO of the Gates Group International, a management and information technology firm based in Prince George County, Virginia. An army brat, Gates was born in Fort Lee, Virginia, and lived on several military installations in Kentucky, North Carolina, and Germany as a boy, before his family settled in Prince George, Virginia. After graduating from Prince George High School in 1990, Gates attended the College of William & Mary, earning a degree in government in 1994.
Gates surrendered Monday to Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, along with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Because it was off-market, the sale was not reflected in the regional multiple listing service typically used by area real estate agents. Both Manafort and Gates were released on house arrest Monday after posting $10 million and $5 million bond respectively. The 31-page indictment says he transferred the money from offshore accounts to other accounts he controlled. Once released from house arrest, Gates must get the court's permission for any domestic travel beyond Richmond, except for visits to Washington, DC, for court appearances and to meet with his lawyers. He won't be allowed to travel abroad, and he'll be required to stay away from "transportation facilities," such as airports and train stations, except for approved travel.
On October 27, 2017, Gates and Manafort were indicted by a federal grand jury as part of the Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and related matters. The twelve-count indictment charged the two men with conspiracy against the United States, making false statements, money laundering, and failing to register as foreign agents for Ukraine as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The charges arose from his work as a consultant for a pro-Russian government in Ukraine and is related to the Trump campaign. Manfort and Gates both pleaded not guilty Monday to charges including conspiracy, money laundering, tax fraud, failure to file reports of foreign financial assets, serving as an unregistered foreign agent and giving false and misleading statements under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
The indictment alleges that Mr. Gates used money from the Ukrainian government, funneled through off-shore accounts, to pay his mortgage, decorate the home and pay his children’s tuition. On November 12, 2019, Gates testified in the criminal trial of Roger Stone, stating that he witnessed a call between Donald Trump and Stone related to the WikiLeaks website in late July 2016. Although he could not hear what was said, within 30 seconds or so of Trump hanging up, Trump said that "more information would be coming," in an apparent reference to WikiLeaks. On November 15, Stone was found guilty on all seven counts, obstruction of proceedings, five counts of false statements, and one count of witness tampering. According to prosecutors in the special counsel's office, Gates continued to provide information relevant to multiple "ongoing investigations" after the conclusion of Manafort's federal case in March 2019, and Gates's sentencing has been delayed while that cooperation continues. During this proffer session interview, on February 1, Gates lied to FBI investigators, and this false statement made by Gates was incorporated into the plea bargain that he subsequently entered into.
On February 23, 2018, Gates pleaded guilty to one count of false statements and one count of conspiracy against the United States. On May 13, 2019, prosecutors asked for another extension until August 30, stating that Gates continues to cooperate and referencing the pending trials of Roger Stone and Gregory Craig. He was sentenced in December 2019 to 45 days in jail and three years of probation, though the sentence was suspended in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Richmonder Rick Gates, a former Trump presidential campaign official, and his business partner, Paul Manafort, who was chairman of the Trump campaign, pleaded not guilty to a 12-count indictment charging them with conspiracy against the United States, tax fraud and money laundering.
In a February 7, 2019, hearing, prosecutors speculated that Manafort had concealed facts about his activities to enhance the possibility of his receiving a pardon. They said that Manafort's work with Ukraine had continued after he had made his plea deal and that during the Trump campaign, he met with Gates and Konstantin Kilimnik, in an exclusive New York cigar bar. In June 2016, when Donald Trump promoted Manafort to the post of campaign manager, Gates worked as Manafort's deputy handling the day-to-day activities of the campaign including taking responsibility for apparent plagiarism in Melania Trump's speech at the Republican National Convention. Gates stayed on as number two in the campaign under Steve Bannon after Manafort was forced to resign, and then worked as deputy chairman of the Donald Trump Inaugural Committee.
He also received a Master’s Degree in public policy from George Washington University. Manafort and Gates surrendered to the FBI on October 30, 2017, and at a court hearing both chose to plead not guilty. He soon was promoted to campaign chairman, and he became the top official on the campaign after then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was fired in June 2016. At the time, the case hinged on the failure by the US firms to register under the FARA, a law the Justice Department rarely uses to bring charges. Yanukovych was ousted amid street protests in 2014, and his pro-Russian Party of Regions was accused of corruption and laundering millions of dollars out of Ukraine. The FBI sought to learn whether those who worked for Yanukovych — Manafort’s firm, as well as Washington lobbying firms Mercury LLC and the Podesta Group — played a role.
No comments:
Post a Comment