Investigators examine over $20 million in loans by former Trump lawyer Cohen - New York Times

[webfact]

Investigators examine over $20 million in loans by former Trump lawyer Cohen - New York Times

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen exits his hotel in Manhattan, New York, U.S., July 31, 2018. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors are focused on over $20 million (15.68 million pounds) in loans obtained by U.S. President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen from taxi businesses owned by him and his family, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

 

The loans are part of an investigation into whether Cohen committed bank and tax fraud, and for possible campaign law violations linked to a $130 million payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He has not been charged with any crime.

 

Citing people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said the loans were from Sterling National Bank and Melrose Credit Union, two New York institutions that do business with the taxi industry.

 

Neither Cohen nor his lawyer immediately responded to a request for comment. Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan, which is investigating Cohen, declined to comment.

 

Sterling National Bank, which is the principal subsidiary of Sterling Bancorp, was not immediately available for comment. Melrose Credit Union did not immediately reply to emails.

 

The investigation is trying to determine whether Cohen misrepresented the value of his assets to obtain the loans, the newspaper said.

 

They are also examining how he handled the income and whether he failed to report it to the Internal Revenue Service, the Times said.

 

The probe is in its last phase and prosecutors are considering filing charges by the end of August, the newspaper said, citing two people with knowledge of the matter.

 

The two lenders were named in search warrants for raids that searched Cohen's office, home and a hotel room where he was staying, several of the people familiar with the matter told the newspaper.

 

Sterling received a grand jury subpoena seeking records related to the loans, one of the people said.

 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation seized documents and files as part of investigations by federal prosecutors in New York stemming from a referral by the U.S. special counsel's office, which is looking into possible coordination between Trump 2016 campaign aides and Russia.

 

Moscow denies interfering in the U.S. election and Trump denies collusion by his campaign, describing the probe as a political witch hunt.

 

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-08-20

[FritsSikkink]

"$130 million payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels"

Who checks this stuff?

[zaphod reborn]

Another Manafort.  Trump wouldn't even bring Cohen to DC, because he was so toxic.  Cohen has little to offer Mueller on the conspiracy allegations against Trump for election hacking/fraud.  If Mueller decides to include all of Trump's financial crimes (money laundering, bank fraud and tax evasion) in his Special Counsel report, Cohen could be useful in that regard, especially as to the deal to build Trump Tower Moscow.  Otherwise, Cohen's goose is cooked, as he will face both federal and state charges.  A pardon would do him little good, and that probably entered into his decision to try to strike a deal with Mueller.

[Get Real]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Federal prosecutors are focused on over $20 million (15.68 million pounds) in loans

I like this extreme importance of the pound that most articles in Thailand and this forum seems to stand for. Today Dollar and Euro as well as the chinese Yen are the world currencies. The pound is nothing more than an overrated currancy uphold by a country with severe problems and unbalanced economic situation.

 

2 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

"$130 million payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels"

Who checks this stuff?

No one, as it seems!

 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

in loans obtained by U.S. President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen from taxi businesses owned by him and his family

Lucky that they borrowed from his own taxi business, and not from any bank. 

[bristolboy]

10 minutes ago, Get Real said:

I like this extreme importance of the pound that most articles in Thailand and this forum seems to stand for. Today Dollar and Euro as well as the chinese Yen are the world currencies. The pound is nothing more than an overrated currancy uphold by a country with severe problems and unbalanced economic situation.

 

No one, as it seems!

 

Lucky that they borrowed from his own taxi business, and not from any bank. 

If you go to the Reuters home page you'll see that pounds were not cited in parentheses. Doubtless this article was pulled from a British version of the original.

 

And while the paragraph you cite was inartfully written re the source of the loans, it's absolutely clear from the subsequent tax that Cohen is suspected of misrepresenting to banks the value of his family's taxi business in order to obtain loans from said banks.

[Get Real]

20 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

If you go to the Reuters home page you'll see that pounds were not cited in parentheses. Doubtless this article was pulled from a British version of the original.

 

And while the paragraph you cite was inartfully written re the source of the loans, it's absolutely clear from the subsequent tax that Cohen is suspected of misrepresenting to banks the value of his family's taxi business in order to obtain loans from said banks.

Thanks for the explaination! Are you some kind of genious? 

[55Jay]

Another smoking gun against the Donald in the high stakes effort....

Quote

....looking into possible coordination between Trump 2016 campaign aides and Russia

 

Trump and his criminally inclined minions are dumb as posts, not very good businessmen and even worse at political intrigue and international skullduggery.  But they are really, really smart in covering their tracks from an army of investigators, led by a highly experienced man like Mueller.  A man who used to eat gangsters and villains for breakfast, and has virtually unfettered authority to pursue any lead, however insignificant or unrelated it may be.

 

Well, I'm glad he's cleaning up a few dodgy characters who probably had it coming anyway, so we can all feel good and morally justified in that.    As well as throwing down the gauntlet in front of the now suitably impressed Russians.  I'm sure the Chinese have sat up and taken notice as well.  Murica isn't to be messed with. 

 

I wish The Don would quit using the "But, But, But.. Witch Hunt!" cliche though.

 

?

 

 

 

[Srikcir]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

the [$20 million] loans were from Sterling National Bank and Melrose Credit Union

Follow the money.

How did Cohen use the $20 million?

Apparently none of it remained by 2016 when Cohen had to borrow $130,000 on his house to pay Stormy Daniels for her NDA.

[TPI]

4 hours ago, 55Jay said:

Another smoking gun against the Donald in the high stakes effort....

 

Trump and his criminally inclined minions are dumb as posts, not very good businessmen and even worse at political intrigue and international skullduggery.  But they are really, really smart in covering their tracks from an army of investigators, led by a highly experienced man like Mueller.  A man who used to eat gangsters and villains for breakfast, and has virtually unfettered authority to pursue any lead, however insignificant or unrelated it may be.

 

Well, I'm glad he's cleaning up a few dodgy characters who probably had it coming anyway, so we can all feel good and morally justified in that.    As well as throwing down the gauntlet in front of the now suitably impressed Russians.  I'm sure the Chinese have sat up and taken notice as well.  Murica isn't to be messed with. 

 

I wish The Don would quit using the "But, But, But.. Witch Hunt!" cliche though.

 

?

 

 

 

Don't know where you got the evidence to make that assumption? A "smoking gun" against Trump because his lawyer is being checked out because he took loans from his own companies? I think you were being satirical and I missed it? ?

[JulesMad]

"owned by him and his family"
Is that not a mafia expression? No surprises here, as trumpy is involved with his tiny fingers ?

[bristolboy]

6 hours ago, Get Real said:

Thanks for the explaination! Are you some kind of genious? 

Smart enough not to laugh at my own jokes no matter how feeble they may be.

[Get Real]

17 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

Smart enough not to laugh at my own jokes no matter how feeble they may be.

You have to update yourself to the year of 2018, if you are going to continue online forums, chat´s and social media. The emotiocon was there as a laugh to the fact that you would be a genius would be a pure joke.

Puuuh! Never though I needed to explain myself soo much. Next time I will do it in every comment to you, so that I do not get so much heavy work haning behind. Cheers!

[Tug]

Just another brick in the wall what a bunch of flakes just nasty amoral predators dare I say swampy?Cohen is strewed!

[Scott]

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