Couple of threads re Paul Manafort by @emptywheel today reminded me Manafort has known Igor Fruman for years & spent time w him in Ukraine, London & NY. Per Betsy Swan for the Daily Beast....
thedailybeast.com/paul-manafort-…
...This thread in particular about how desperate Manafort was for money in the fall of '16 caught my attention...
....While no one has publicly linked Manafort to Fruman's involvement w Rudy & the Trump campaign, it would be another amazing coincidence if Manafort didn't know what Fruman & Parnas were up to in late '16 & early '17....
...If you've followed me for awhile, you know Lev Parnas & David Correia became involved w a Delray Beach "property developer", Hudson Holdings LLC, in Sept '16 around the same time Parnas became interested in the Trump campaign...
...That $10 million loan Parnas & Correia claimed they put together for Hudson Holdings? Was ostensibly from a Ukraine property development company. According to the WSJ, Roman Nasirov, disgraced Ukrainian treasurer, was involved.....
...Roman Nasirov spent a lot of time w Parnas in Dec '16 & Jan '17, showing up at M-A-L & then the Inauguration & he already knew Fruman from Ukraine....
..The two Hudson Holdings principals, Andrew "Avi" Greenbaum & Steven Michael, joined M-A-L in the fall of '16 allegedly using proceeds from the $10 million loan to pay the $300k initiation fee.....
...In August '18, Steven Michael, 52, married his much younger Ukrainian girlfriend who had her picture taken at M-A-L & posted it on FB in May '19. Not sure when it was taken...
...Steven Michael was the public face of Hudson Holdings. In Jan '20, Michael told Jacob Barker at the St Louis Dispatch, the $10m loan had nothing to do w Parnas or a St Louis real estate project, characterizing it as a "corporate loan"....
stltoday.com/business/local…
...In June '15, Hudson Holdings made a big splash in Cleveland when it bought an office building from a company controlled by Igor Kolomoiskey's US representatives...
hudsonholdings.com/hudson-in-the-…
...Six months later, Hudson Holdings was was awarded a much "much coveted & highly competitive" Ohio state historic renovation $25 million tax credit related to development of the Cleveland building...
cleveland.com/business/2015/…
..In May '18, Hudson Holdings sold the Cleveland building to a "connected" local developer for $40 million after buying it from Kolomoiskey for $18.5 million in '15...
cleveland.com/realestate-new…
...On paper, it looks like Hudson Holdings turned a $21.5 million gross profit on the sale of the Cleveland building yet a Cleveland architect recently sued HH for $660k in unpaid design bills & Steven Michael has a $20k IRS lien on his property...
...Avi Greenbaum was featured in the Cleveland Jewish News in Jan '16....
clevelandjewishnews.com/news/local_new…
....In May '20, Buzzfeed News published an in-depth look at Igor Kolomoisky's real estate holdings including the Cleveland building. His surrogates are Miami based & they are represented by...wait for it...Marc Kasowitz, Trump's long time attorney....
buzzfeednews.com/article/mikesa…
...A June '19 Cleveland Scene story has more details about Kolosmoisky's investments there but mistakenly omitted the sale to Hudson Holdings....
m.clevescene.com/scene-and-hear…
To summarize so far, associates of Igor Furman & Lev Parnas bought a Cleveland office building from Igor Kolomoisky in '15, obtained a much sought after $25m tax credit, sold the building three years later & turned a $21.5m profit on paper w/o doing any renovations....
...In the fall of '16, those associates, Steven Michael & Ari Greenbaum, obtained a $10 million "corporate" loan from a Ukrainian development firm associated w Roman Nasirov, also an associate of Igor Fruman & Lev Parnas.....
...In the same period, Michael & Greenbaum joined M-A-L, reportedly plunking down $300k for memberships. In a lawsuit filed in Palm Beach Cty, Parnas & Correia claimed they entered into an agreement w Hudson Holdings to facilitate the $10m loan for a St Louis investment....
...in Sept '16 which is the same month Parnas said he heard about the private Trump fundraiser held in late Oct '16 held at Robert Pereira's Hillsboro Beach mansion. Parnas then donated $50k to the Trump campaign...
...Bet Dec '16 & Jan '17, Parnas squired Nasirov around town. In March '17, Nasirov was accused of siphoning $75m in energy taxes from the Ukraine government but was never formally charged...
...I've tweeted about Igor Fruman's link to org crime here & in Ukraine a number of times including the fact he & his brother grossed $7 million bet '98 & '03 in a fake no fault car accident scam operated by the Russian mob in Brooklyn...
... I recently tweeted about David Correia possibly buying fake debts in bulk thru his company, the Wellington Group, in '15. That Parnas & Correia were sued for nonpayment of rent & other debts several times is widely known...
...As for Steven Michael's character, I knew he paid a $50k fine for defrauding customers to the National Futures Association in '11...
nfa.futures.org/BasicNet/basic…
...Unverified but I was told Michael was arrested in Chicago on drug charges related cocaine in the early 00s. In a lawsuit filed in federal court, Terry V Woods, a Hudson Holdings investor, claimed among other things, Michael was treated for substance abuse in '08....
... In his lawsuit claiming Michael & Greenbaum cheated him out of $5.5 million, Terry Woods lays out very specific allegations of fraud against Greenbaum & Michael...
scribd.com/document/47294…
...The point is none of these people are anyone any honest person would want to do business - Parnas, Correia, Fruman, Nasirov, Michael, Greenbaum, Kolomoisky....
...I know the FBI in South Florida is aware of Hudson Holdings & that the SDNY attorneys are too. Thing is there is or was a grand jury in Cleveland looking into Kolomoisky's real estate dealings. In May, Barr transferred the USA to DC....
upi.com/Top_News/US/20….
...I've tweeted extensively about Fruman, Parnas, Rudy & their mutual associate, Chief Rabbi of Kiev Moshe Reuven Azman as well as the many Trump supporters they associated with. Eg....
...More of Igor Fruman's connections including the parents of the CEO of the Russian search engine, Yandex.....
Getting back to Manafort. Do I think he could be connected to Fruman & Parnas? Absolutely. Do I think Rudy knew what he was getting into? Absolutely. Do I think AG Barr would put the lid on this until after the election? Absolutely...The End
Addendum: Someone should ask when Steven Michael first visited Ukraine & at whose behest.
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