The family business Manafort defends his name while the famous cousin is in prison

March 3, 2019, 15:16 GMT

By Associated press

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – What do you do if you share a name with one of the most infamous figures that emerge from the Special Council's investigation of Russia?

Paul Manafort's daughter has decided to change her name. The leaders of New Britain, Connecticut, have considered renaming Paul Manafort Drive, a street named after his father.

At Manafort Brothers Inc., a New England-based family-owned construction company, they defend Manafort's name and heritage while distancing themselves from their cousin, the former Trump campaign president, recently criticized by prosecutors for years of lies and violations of law.

The name Manafort has been a household name in New England politics and business for decades, creating a disaster for the family since the former 69-year-old lawyer is to be sentenced on Thursday.

Manafort Brothers is one of the most well-known construction companies in New England. His name appears along highways, on hotel sites and on heavy equipment used to dig holes or demolish buildings. After September 11, the Manafort brothers helped remove what was left of the World Trade Center buildings.

A recent press release extolling the 100th anniversary of Manafort Brothers claims that the company "is still run by the strong moral and commercial ethics of the Manafort family," a line that raises eyebrows among those who have followed the story of the family.

The company claims that the criminal proceedings brought by Paul Manafort have nothing to do with the company and that the company has not been affected by the lawsuits. Paul Manafort has never worked for the company and holds no rights, according to President Jim Manafort Jr.

"I could almost count on one hand the number of times that someone asked me what the relationship was," he said.

Manafort has been convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in Virginia, where he will be sentenced on Thursday. He should be sentenced again in Washington on March 13 after pleading guilty to illegally exerting pressure for Ukrainian political interests.

In a sentencing note in the Washington case, prosecutors accused Manafort of gross violations of the law, including attempts to falsify witnesses and perjury, even after they were charged. Manafort, 69, has asked for clemency, but faces decades of prison.

Paul's grandfather, James, founded the construction company as a demolition company – the New Britain House Wrecking Company – after arriving in the United States from Italy at the beginning of the 1900s. The family says that its original name in Italy was Manaforte, which translates into a strong hand.

Paul Manafort's father, Paul Sr., then took over the business with three of his brothers.

Paul Sr. was a Republican Mayor of the old industrial city of New Britain in the 1960s and 1970s, then was appointed to positions in state and federal governments. Articles from the New Britain Herald and the Hartford Courant between the 1960s and 1980s describe a complex legacy for Paul Sr., linked to numerous scandals, including some involving the family business. After his name appeared as part of the investigation into a job-catching project, he acknowledged to the Courant that he had had a colorful political career.

"I'm a good copy," Paul Sr told the newspaper in 1980, when his son founded the Washington Black, Manafort and Stone lobbying firm.

Paul Sr. was finally charged with perjury, which he denied and eventually gave up. He died in 2013.

Today, Manafort Brothers employs 700 people, said Jim Manafort. He is based in Plainville, Connecticut, with offices in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

When a fight broke out last year in New Britain to try to rename Paul Manafort Drive, eight Manaforts wrote a letter on Manafort Brothers' letterhead opposing the change.

They called Paul Sr. a patriarch of the family and said that he had helped to build the company and its "exemplary reputation". They distanced Paul Jr.'s actions from his father's inheritance, calling them "totally independent."

Republican Mayor Erin Stewart finally vetoed a Common Council resolution to change the name of the street to Ebenezer DC Bassett Way, after being the first African-American to graduate from the current Central Connecticut State University.

The company had more recent problems with the law. In 2014, she agreed to pay a $ 2.4 million fine and to implement internal reforms to establish federal criminal and civil investigations into allegations that she lied about the use of sub- dealing with minority on a $ 40 million road project in Connecticut. Jim Manafort said the company did not think he had intentionally done anything wrong.

"Some policies were unreliable and in the end we had to settle them because it did not make sense to keep debating this," he said.

He pointed to the good work of the family through a foundation that distributes more than $ 100,000 a year to the community, and said they were proud of the name and their achievements.

Pat Karwoski, 77, a retired nurse from New Britain who has fought to change the name of the street, said that when she sees the name of Manafort Brothers, this is the only time she has been there. embarrassed. She said that it seemed to him that some family members had done a good job philanthropic, but that the statement that he is known for his morals and ethics is not true.

"They can all be good people, but they can not deny their story," she said.

Customers seemed insensitive to the connection. Proponents of a downtown Providence hotel, where Manafort Brothers recently worked as a subcontractor, said they were satisfied with their work.

"As long as their price is reasonable and they will bring you quality," said developer Joe Paolino, former Democratic mayor of Providence and ambassador to Malta under Bill Clinton's presidency. "That's what matters to me in business."

Manafort's daughter, Jessica, does not want to have anything to do with the last name. A Hollywood filmmaker, she changed her name to Jess Bond last year, informing the New York Post that she wanted the change "to separate me from my job and from that of her. a public perception that has nothing to do with the person I am ".

The credits of his latest project, a romantic thriller called "Rosy", do not mention the name of Manafort.