So here in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, where we have the 4th Amendment right to privacy, the government is notified every time that anyone makes any kind of bank transaction of $10,000 or more.
This infraction of our rights as free citizens is what they are now using to spy on, harass and perhaps incarcerate Paul Manaforte. They've been after him for years for "moving" money around, but so far haven't proved any wrong doing. This time may be different. We may find out tomorrow.
From Buzzfeed a very long article - excerpts:
FBI Probe Of Paul Manafort Focuses On 13 “Suspicious” Wire Transfers BuzzFeed News has learned of a series of wire transfers, made by companies linked to Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, that federal officials deemed suspicious. Many of the wires went from offshore companies controlled by Manafort to American businesses.
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Now, BuzzFeed News has learned that investigators have been scrutinizing at least 13 wire transfers between 2012 and 2013. The transfers were first flagged by American financial institutions, which are required by law to tell an office within the Treasury Department about any transactions they deem suspicious. Such “ suspicious activity reports” do not prove wrongdoing. Federal law requires financial institutions to file reports on cash transactions that exceed $10,000 in a single day, even if those transactions seem otherwise legitimate. Banks are also required to file the reports whenever they suspect money laundering or other financial crimes.
Bank officers flagged unusual behavior among five offshore companies that authorities say are associated with Manafort: Global Endeavour Inc., Lucicle Consultants Ltd., and three others that appear to have no current contact information.
Law enforcement sources say the companies sent funds in round-dollar amounts without explanation of what the money was to be used for. The countries where these transactions originated — notably Cyprus and the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines — are notorious for money laundering. Federal law enforcement officials said they saw evidence of “layering,” the process by which the origin of money is obscured behind many layers of companies. Much of the money ended up in the US, sent to American home improvement contractors, a hedge fund, and even a car dealership.
Manafort’s suspicious financial transactions were first flagged by Treasury officials as far back as 2012 and forwarded to the FBI’s International Corruption Unit and the Department of Justice for further investigation in 2013 and 2014, a former Treasury official who worked on the matter told BuzzFeed News. The extent of Manafort’s suspicious transactions was so vast, said this former official, that law enforcement agents drafted a series of “intelligence reports” about Manafort’s financial dealings. Two law enforcement officials who worked on the case say that they found red flags in his banking records going back as far as 2004, and that the transactions in question totaled many millions of dollars.
It’s unknown what became of the FBI’s Manafort investigation; no charges were filed. An FBI spokesperson did not return emails and phone calls this week. One FBI agent who was actively involved in the investigation told BuzzFeed News it “lay dormant” for a while but was never closed.
buzzfeed.com
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