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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) – Paul Manafort orchestrated a multimillion-dollar conspiracy to evade US tax and banking laws, leaving behind a trail of lies as he lived on lavish lifestyle, prosecutors said Tuesday. 19659002] During his opening statement, Assistant US Attorney Uzo Asonye told the jury that Manafort considered himself above the law as he was tens of millions of dollars through offshore accounts. That "secret income" was used for $ 21,000, a $ 15,000 worth of real estate paid for in cash, Asonye said.
"A man in this courtroom "Asonye said of Manafort Robert Mueller's team."
The government intends to show Manafort funneled more than $ 60 a million years ago from the United States of America in the United States of America.
Manafort, who has been jailed for nearly two months,
Asonye said Manafort created "bogus" loans, falsified documents and lied to his tax preparer and bookkeeper to conceal the m Oney, which he obtained from Ukrainian oligarchs through a series of fraudulent transactions in the US
The comments by Asonye were the first volley in Manafort 's bank fraud and tax evasion trial. It is expected to last several weeks.
It is the first trial arising from Mueller's investigation into potentials between the Trump presidential campaign and Russia. Mueller was not present in the courtroom Tuesday.
While prosecutors are not expected to address the question of possible collusion between Trump and Russia, Manafort 's case is widely viewed as a test to the legitimacy of Mueller' s ongoing probe, which Trump has dismissed as a "witch hunt."
"There was No Collusion (except by Crooked Hillary and the Democrats)!" Trump tweeted early Tuesday.
Prosecutors have lined up 35 witnesses and more than 500 pieces of evidence they say will show how Manafort earned more than $ 60 million from his Ukrainian work and then concealed a "significant percentage" of that money from the IRS . Prosecutors will also argue that Manafort fraudulently obtained more than a million dollars in a loan.
A jury of six men and six women was selected earlier Tuesday, along with four alternate jurors.
The pool of Jurors faced questions of US sides Judge TS Ellis III
Prosecutors say they will introduce evidence of a presiding judge of one of the banks Uncertainty in the History of the United States (19659002) , including several emails between Manafort and Stephen Calk, the Chicago bank chairman.
Trump campaign helps, Rick Gates, who is working for Manafort in Ukraine and is also accused of helping him falsify paperwork used to obtain loans. Gates, who has a plea deal with Mueller earlier this year, is expected to testify against his mentor.
Gates is also expected to play a key role in his second trial, scheduled for September. That trial, set in the District of Columbia, involves the allegations that the longtime political consultant acted as a foreign agent for the United States and the United States.
Russians are considered to be unlikely to enter an American Courtroom. Three Russian companies have also been charged. One of those companies pleaded not guilty and is fighting the allegations in federal court in Washington.
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Associated Press Writer Stephen Braun contributed to this report.
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Follow Chad Day at https: / /twitter.com/ChadSDay and Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP
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