ALEXANDRIA, Va. – One of Paul Manafort’s accountants told a federal court jury Friday that she raised concerns about the terms of at least two foreign loans to the former Trump campaign chairman totaling $2.4 million and did not believe her client’s explanations to support them.
Cynthia LaPorta, who oversaw the preparations of some of Manafort’s business and personal tax returns, testified that she classified the loans in tax returns according to her client’s instructions despite her reservations.
LaPorta later acknowledged that she was testifying under a grant of immunity shielding her from possible prosecution.
The accountant is one of five government witnesses who have been granted immunity in exchange for their testimony against Manafort.
LaPorta took over Manafort’s accounting duties in 2014.
Although the government has presented evidence that Manafort allegedly stashed tens of millions of dollars in secret foreign accounts, LaPorta testified that Manafort repeatedly denied controlling any foreign interests when she directly inquired about any such holdings and when he was required to disclose them on his tax returns.
Virginia accountant James Ayliff, who for years supervised the preparation of Manafort’s business and personal tax returns, told the jury his client repeatedly denied any international financial interests.
During Ayliff’s lengthy testimony, Manafort sat a few feet away at the defense table where he appeared to be closely tracking the government’s exhibits, many of them copies of his own tax returns and ledger sheets.
When Ayliff flagged suspicious payments flowing from unfamiliar entities, the accountant said he was assured by Manafort or Manafort's partner, Rick Gates, that they had no control over accounts abroad.
Earlier this week, prosecutors presented evidence that Manafort tapped multiple accounts in Cyprus, the Grenadines and Ukraine to funnel millions of dollars to support an extravagant lifestyle in the U.S.
Ayliff’s testimony is key to the government’s contention that Manafort also falsified his tax returns during the five-year period between 2010 and 2014.
“Did you ask Mr. Manafort whether he had foreign bank accounts each year?” prosecutor Uzo Asonye asked Ayliff.
“Yes,” the accountant said.
“What did he report?”
“None.”
The accountant's testimony comes a day after Manafort's longtime bookkeeper said that she also had no knowledge of Manafort's foreign interests or the dozens of wire transfers he approved from those accounts to pay for homes, cars and custom clothes.
His attorneys are expected to argue that Manafort did not intend to hide accounts or mislead bookkeepers, as some evidence of Manafort’s international holdings was contained in the ledgers.
Manafort also is accused of falsifying loan applications to obtain millions of dollars. But while Ayliff testified he was aware that Manafort had sought loans against his various properties, the accountant said he was never provided the underlying documents supporting those loan applications.
He did, however, recall that Manafort once instructed him to provide inaccurate information to UBS Bank related to a 2015 loan involving the Manaforts’ Trump Tower apartment on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
Reading aloud from an email, Ayliff said Manafort told him to classify the apartment as a personal residence in any conversation with the bank.
Ayliff responded, stating that the apartment had always been regarded as a rental property.
The case against Manafort – 18 criminal counts of tax evasion, bank fraud and conspiracy – is the first to be tried by special counsel Robert Mueller and focuses on Manafort's business dealings. It doesn't directly have to do with Manafort's work for President Donald Trump.
WSOC
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