Things that make you go, "Hmmmmmm."

Incest and all.

Plus evidence of money laundering and God knows what else.

But a tape of those two doing something that unspeakable? It would be curtains for the Teflon Don.

Then again, his base is so hypnotized, maybe even that wouldn't be enough to shake them out of it.

Caligula-esque times we're living in.

*Shudder*

Just imagine what Putin has on tape with those two!

I. really. do. not. care.

I care because I want to see this asshole and all his associates go down, bringing Trump with them.

The important thing is not just the unusual size of the purchases, it's the very unusual form of payment.

Not buy a million $ worth of clothes, but why not pay with a wire transfer? That IS the normal way to transfer such amounts of funds.

Have you ever tried to write a check for $ 1 million? Or even $100,000? Hell, I just transferred only $60K from a brokerage account to my local bank. It was a PITA. The bank would not accept any check that large, even a "Bank Check", which my brokerage wouldn't provide anyway. I asked if it could be a normal ACH transfer. Bank said they would rather not, and would hold the funds for 5 business days. So we ended up doing a wire transfer of $60K, which cost me $40, but the funds were available the next day. Granted, my personal bank is a local, not part of a national franchise, but still ....

It seems that wire transfers are the preferred method for transferring larger sums.

none of the other customers, also buying exorbitantly expensive clothing, used wire transfers. It was not the normal way of doing business in this particular store.

didn't refuse the money?

Manafort and his financial guys were probably as comfortable with wire transfers as most of us are with swiping a debit card. It's the way things are done in large, especially international, transactions. Hell, even a financial nobody like me has done a half dozen or so wire transfers in the last 20 years.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what other financial shenanigans he has pulled.

Money.

It isn’t about “wire transfers” per se. it is about money laundering

to my US bank. Was I money laundering? (And this was back in the late 80's, before all the internet transactions became so visible.)

The fact is that wire transfers, offshore accounts, and shell companies are often used in legitimate international transactions.

I'm certainly not defending Manafort, but merely using wire transfers and foreign accounts is not proof of money laundering. I am sure the prosecution has ( at least I hope they have) some real proof.

Last edited Wed Aug 1, 2018, 05:21 PM - Edit history (1)

I've done it too. Buying clothes with wire transfers might also happen from time to time and it's perfectly legal, but it isn't the usual way to do it, even when buying from a high-end shop. It's the sort of thing that would raise an eyebrow or two, especially if there is other evidence of sketchy financial activity. It's just another piece of the puzzle.

Also, he used international wire transfers from a Cyprus bank, which is really unusual.

I’ve bought a few new vehicles with a personal check and never had a dealership so much as flinch.

it's relatively easy for a dealership to get a vehicle back. There is a process for it. Pure financial transfers are more final, and thus can be problematic.

some sort of kickback?

Were the purchases a way for him to bring the money into the US via a circuitous route with the store owner perhaps being involved?

Anyhow, you can't launder really large amounts of money effectively through a clothing store, even by buying an unusual amount of expensive clothing. Money laundering is more commonly done through real estate transactions using multiple shell corporations, especially where the money came from a foreign source. Another common means of money laundering is through casinos, where there is a lot of untraceable cash. Manafort was dealing in much more money than he could have laundered by buying and returning a few expensive suits (and the scheme could have been easily discovered). It's more likely that he just liked the trappings of wealth.

It's just difficult to fathom having that much money to spend on clothing without there being some underlying point or plot.

But, yes, the trappings of wealth.

and enjoying the accoutrements of wealth. You can't launder the kind of money he was dealing in through a clothing store; anyhow, something that basic would have been discovered by the FBI ages ago.

He paid for them using wire transfers from foreign banks. He did not pay taxes on that money. That’s tax fraud.

Or did he plan to sell some of them for cash? I hope they look carefully at his orders.

Rec

that the Steele Dossier says that Trump began being "groomed" by Russia as a possible asset if he were to run for president?

and still not have one where the jacket doesn't gap open when you walk?

Maybe it's the Trump model: Buy the suit -- forego the tailoring.

Wow! Just think how much he must spend at Heidi's Wig Barn!

I want to know where the money from the store went. And that Mercedes. Stolen? The $123k returned to its rightful owner, clean as a whistle.

Getting in a little exercise, busting big rocks into smaller ones. It’s good medicine, Paulie!