***The Evegny Freidman arrested today manages Michael Cohen's taxicab fleet***

Last edited Wed Jun 7, 2017, 11:31 PM - Edit history (4)

MICHAEL COHEN is DT's personal attorney but owns some taxis on the side.

Freidman, his partner Simon Barber, and Cohen all own taxis in NYC. From the article: "Cohen’s medallions are now managed by Evgeny Friedman."

THE WALLS ARE CLOSING IN AROUND THE DONALD!!! DON'T YOU LOVE THE SOUND OF MOBSTERS FLIPPING?

The announcement of the arrest is here (kudos to Louise Mensch -- she put it on Twitter):

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141793883


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/says-who-piecing-together-the-michael-cohen-story

By his late 30s, when he came into Trump’s orbit (circa 2006-07), Cohen was by all appearances already a very wealthy man. He had already compiled an extensive New York area real estate portfolio, mainly tied to New York City residential properties. But the original source of his wealth appears tied to a series of non-real estate business partnerships. The one common thread connecting these partnerships in businesses ranging from taxis to gambling to energy is that each involved a partnership with immigrants from Ukraine.

The earliest of these businesses appears to be the taxi business with partner Simon Garber, a now fantastically successful taxi entrepreneur who owns hundreds of taxi medallions in New York as well as huge stakes in the taxi industry in Chicago, New Orleans and (formerly) Moscow (Garber left the Moscow market after the market collapse in 1998.) Garber is a larger-than-life figure who founded the International Polo Club of Colts Neck near his estate in Colts Neck, New Jersey. To give a sense of perspective, during the time Cohen was in the taxi business with Garber, the price of an individual medallion was about a quarter of a million dollars and starting a massive run up that would reach roughly $1 million before a steep drop off in recent years because of Uber and Lyft. In 2003 Cohen listed himself as a co-owner of a fleet of “more than 200 taxis.” What Cohen’s stake was and how leveraged the business was is not clear. But this a highly lucrative and incredibly capital intensive business.

Cohen says he sold his share of the business to Garber in the early 2000s, though Cohen continues to own substantial taxi medallion holdings. Cohen’s medallions are now managed by Evgeny Friedman, an Russian emigre from St Petersburg who owns more taxi medallions than any other person in New York City (more than 800 out 13,605).