The Paul Manafort indictment is being used by lawmakers to pressure Airbnb to change its policy so it will share address data with New York state regulators, the New York Daily News reported.
In the indictment, prosecutors accused Manafort of moving $2.85 million from a Cyprus offshore account through a limited liability company owned by his family to buy a Manhattan apartment, per the Daily News.
Manafort reportedly said the apartment would be for personal use, but instead rented it out on Airbnb from January 2015 through 2016, against state law, the Daily News said.
A letter signed by 27 lawmakers was sent to Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky calling for the company to share address data with New York regulators.
"Airbnb must no longer be permitted to shield illegal operators by claiming it is protecting the privacy of hosts when those hosts look like Paul Manafort and his Russian oligarch clients," the letter stated, per the Daily News.
"At a time when we are learning that popular new media sites are being used to push agendas dangerous to our democracy, we must ask for more, not less information from technology giants like Airbnb," the letter continued.
An Airbnb rep said the company had offered to create special data sets for regulators and in New York had released monthly data updates on AirbnbCitizen. The rep said the company had also proposed legislation that would require platforms like Airbnb to provide regulators with data to help enforce laws in compliance with legal requirements.
Manafort and Rick Gates, an associate, face 12 felony counts, including money laundering, false statements, CBS News reported.
The two were lobbying and doing other work for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine led by former Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, CBS said.
Manafort and Gates were charged with failing to register as foreign agents representing the Ukrainians and were suspected of laundering up to $75 million in payments from 2006 through February 2017, per CBS News.