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Manafort, Gates are 'flight risks,' special counsel team says

By Danielle Haynes
Former Trump adviser Paul Manafort and his associate, Rick Gates, have the resources available to them to live comfortably overseas, making them a flight risk, special counsel Robert Mueller's team said in court documents. Photo by Ray Stubblebine/UPI
Former Trump adviser Paul Manafort and his associate, Rick Gates, have the resources available to them to live comfortably overseas, making them a flight risk, special counsel Robert Mueller's team said in court documents. Photo by Ray Stubblebine/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business associate, Rick Gates, have access to resources making them more at risk of fleeing the country, unsealed court documents revealed.

Special counsel prosecutor Andrew Weissmann wrote a memo urging a judge to place the men in house arrest because their assets and overseas contacts would allow them to "live comfortably" outside of the United States.

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The memo also said Manafort and Gates have shown a history of misleading people and "sophistication in moving money across borders."

The office of special counsel Robert Mueller also pointed to the risk posed by Manafort's possession of three passports.

"In a little more than the last ten years, Manafort has submitted 10 United States Passport applications on 10 different occasions," the memo says. "He currently has three United States passports, with different numbers."

Additionally, the office said Manafort registered a phone and email account using an alias.

Though it's not always illegal to own more than one passport, "the defendants pose a risk of flight based on the serious nature of the charges, their history of deceptive and misleading conduct, the potentially significant sentences the defendants face, the strong evidence of guilt, their significant financial resources and their foreign connections," the memo said.

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Weissmann said it's unclear what Manafort's net worth is; on separate forms in 2016, he variously listed his net worth between $25 million and $136 million. Gates listed his net worth as $30 million with a liquid net worth of $25 million in 2016.

Manafort posted a $10 million bond and Gates posted $5 million Monday before they were released on house arrest. They both pleaded not guilty to a series of charges including conspiracy, money laundering, tax fraud, failure to file reports of foreign financial assets, serving as an unregistered foreign agent and giving false and misleading statements under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

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