Thirteen suspicious wire transfers made from offshore companies controlled by Paul Manafort are a focus of the FBI's investigation into President Donald Trump's former campaign manager, federal law enforcement officials and a former Treasury official who worked on the matter told BuzzFeed News.
Manafort took over Trump’s campaign in May 2016 but was forced out after three months amid scrutiny over his nearly decades-long work as a consultant to Ukraine’s Party of Regions and former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.
Yanukovych, who was sanctioned by the European Union in 2014 amid accusations of embezzlement and financial wrongdoing, was ousted from Ukraine in 2014 and is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Manafort, who has been the subject of an FBI investigation for three years, has emerged as a focal point for special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into possible collusion by Russia in the 2016 presidential election. But the raid of Manafort's Virginia home in July was for possible crimes committed as far back as 2006, according to the FBI search warrant.
The transfers center on $3 million moved around between 2012 and 2013 and are being scrutinized to see whether Manafort was hiding money from tax authorities or whether he was helping his Ukraine clients launder money. American financial institutions first flagged the transfers, which were made by five offshore companies linked to Manafort, including Global Endeavour Inc., Lucicle Consultants Ltd., and three others.
The transactions originated from countries notorious for money laundering – Cyprus, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean. BuzzFeed reports the companies sent funds in round-dollar amounts without citing what the money was for, and that law enforcement officials saw evidence of "layering," a money-laundering technique which separates the proceeds of criminal activity from their origin.
Much of the money ended up in the U.S. through home improvement contractors, a hedge fund and a car dealership.
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