Paul Manafort's NYC Buildings Could Be Seized If He's Convicted

NEW YORK, NY — Paul Manafort's New York City properties could be in the federal government's hands if he's convicted of money laundering, according to an indictment unsealed Monday. The former chairman of President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign was charged alongside Rick Gates, his longtime lobbying partner, in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian interference in last year's election.

Manafort bought his condominium at 29 Howard St. in SoHo and his brownstone at 377 Union Street in Carroll Gardens with money from secret bank accounts in Cyprus, according to the 12-count indictment signed by Mueller.

Federal authorities would seize the houses, for which Manafort paid a total of $4.85 million, if he's convicted of the money laundering charge against him, the indictment says. Manafort's homes in Virginia and the Hamptons could also be seized, according to the indictment.

Manafort bought both properties in 2012 using money from some of his many undisclosed offshore accounts, which were used in connection with his lobbying for the Russian-backed Ukrainian government, according to the indictment.

Manafort allegedly rented the SoHo condo on Airbnb, charging "thousands of dollars a week" and taking advantage of the property on his tax returns, the indictment says. But he lied to a bank to get a $3.1 million mortgage, saying his daughter and son-in-law used it as a second home, according to the indictment.

Also See: What you need to know about the Manafort-Gates indictment

The Carroll Gardens house also allegedly got Manafort another fraudulent mortgage. He started renovations on it soon after buying it for $3 million in cash, and got a bank to give him a $5 million loan against its expected $8 million value after the renovation, the indictment says.

But Manafort never finished the project and used some of the loan money toward another property in California, according to the indictment. Patch saw cinder blocks and construction materials sitting outside the vacant house in February, and neighbors have called it an "eyesore."

The charges against Manafort and Gates are the first in Mueller's monthslong probe. Mueller's agents reportedly stormed Manafort's Virginia home in July and, according to the indictment, found documents related to his lobbying efforts

In a statement, Manafort's attorney, Kevin Downing, noted that Manafort's work for the Russian government ended in 2014, two years before he was involved with the Trump campaign.

The indictment's "claim that maintaining offshore accounts to bring all your funds into the United States, as a scheme to conceal from the United States government, is ridiculous," Downing said.

(Lead image: Paul Manafort's Carroll Gardens brownstone is seen in February. Photo by Marc Torrence/Patch)