NEW YORK: Federal prosecutors brought new wire fraud charges Thursday against an associate of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani who was involved in attempts to get Ukrainian officials to investigate the son of U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Lev Parnas and his business partner, David Correia, were charged with defrauding investors in a business called Fraud Guarantee. A superseding indictment also charged them with additional campaign finance violations.
Prosecutors said the company purported to insure investors against corporate fraud while in fact, as alleged, they misled investors as to what would be done with their money.
The indictment said the men misled investors about the strength of the company and their business model and in some cases used the invested money for personal expenses.
We couldnt say it better ourselves the behavior alleged today is indeed fraudulent guaranteed,” FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said in a statement.
Messages were sent to defense attorneys for Parnas and Correia seeking comment.
Both men had previously faced charges of using foreign money to make illegal campaign contributions to U.S. politicians to aid their political and business interests.
Parnas and Correia had been charged along with two other men, Igor Fruman and Andrew Kukushkin, a Ukrainian-born U.S. citizen, in a scheme to make illegal campaign donations to local and federal politicians in New York, Nevada and other states to try to win support for a new recreational marijuana business.
Parnas and Fruman also made sizable contributions while trying to get Americans interested in investigating Biden’s son in Ukraine. Giuliani, a Republican, has said he knew nothing about the donations.
Parnas and Correia also hired Giuliani to consult with Fraud Guarantee. Giuliani has said he was promised $500,000 to work with the company.
That money was ultimately paid to Giuliani’s company by Charles Gucciardo, a Long Island lawyer and supporter of President Donald Trump. Gucciardo’s attorney previously said that the $500,000 was intended to be an investment in Fraud Guarantee.
The indictment did not name the defrauded investors.
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