Lev Parnas, formerly with Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani, was convicted of violating U.S. campaign finance laws

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Lev Parnas, a former affiliate of Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, was found guilty of violating U.S. campaign finance laws during the 2018 election.

Key points: A U.S. Federal Court has found Lev Parnas guilty of all six charges of federal election law violations the businessman is an affiliate of Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani

The verdict was returned in federal Manhattan court, where the Ukrainian -born American businessman was arraigned for more than two weeks.

Prosecutors accused him of using other people’s money to pose as a powerful political broker and convenient up to some of the country’s star Republicans.

Parnas and his former colleague Igor Fruman are accused of soliciting funding from Russian businessman Andrey Muraviev to provide candidates in states where the group is seeking licenses to operate cannabis businesses in 2018.

The 49 -year -old also hid he and Fruman, who begged in September, the true source of a donation to a group supporting then -Republican president Trump, prosecutors said.

Parnas was convicted of all six counts of federal election law violations, which included illegally assisting a foreigner to contribute to a U.S. election campaign, making contributions in the names of others, and lying to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC).

Lev Parnas (left) and his attorney Joseph Bondy left court after he was found guilty of all charges. (AP Photo / Stefan Jeremiah)

Mr. Giuliani’s attorney said Parnas’ case was separate from an investigation into whether he violated lobbying laws while representing Mr. Trump.

Mr. Giuliani served as a prosecutor in the 1980s before he was elected mayor of New York in 1994.

He was not charged with any crime and denied wrongdoing.

Andrey Kukushkin, an associate of Mr. Muraviev and a California resident who was tried with Parnas, was found guilty of two counts of campaign finance violations. Kukushkin is also a citizen of Ukraine.

The trial drew attention because of the role Parnas and Belarusian-born U.S. Fruman played in helping Mr. Giuliani, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, investigate Democrat Joe Biden in the campaign. of the presidency in 2020.

Mr. Biden won the election, rejecting Mr. Trump in a second term.

Parnas, wearing a blue suit, looked straight at the jury as the verdict was read.

Kukushkin, wearing a gray sweater, shuddered after he was suddenly guilty of the second count.

“I didn’t hide from anyone,” Parnas said as he left the court wearing a black “Combat COVID” mask.

“I always stood up and tried to tell the truth.”

A New York jury convicted Lev Parnas on charges of illegally contributing to the campaign to influence U.S. politicians and advance business interests. (Photo by AP / Richard Drew)

His lawyer, Joseph Bondy, said they would file a motion to remove the verdict “in the interest of justice.”

“Obviously it was a very difficult time for Mr. Parnas and his wife and children,” Mr. Bondy said.

U.S. District Judge J Paul Oetken denied a request from prosecutors to remove Parnas and Kukushkin.

“Defendants have sufficiently established that they are not a flying hazard,” Judge Oetken said.

Judge Oetken set a trial date on Feb. 16 for Kukushkin, but did not set a trial date for Parnas, who faces another possible trial on separate fraud charges.

Reuters

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