Paul Manafort- Destroyer of Ukrainian Democracy

[Brasscasing]

Here are headnotes on dismissal of the claim -

Filed:9/18/2015
OPINION AND ORDER: Given that this is now Plaintiffs' fourth unsuccessful attempt to plead RICO claims, and given that the changes in the TAC fail to remedy the deficiencies found in the SAC, the Court declines to grant Plaintiffs yet another opportunity to amend their pleadings. When further amendment is likely to be futile, leave to amend need not be granted. See De Jesus v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 87 F.3d 65, 72 (2d Cir. 1996) ("Plaintiffs were accorded four opportunities to plead their claims in this case, and the deficiencies in their federal claims are fundamental. The district court did not abuse its discretion by refusing them a fifth opportunity." (internal citations omitted)); see also Ruffolo v. Oppenheimer & Co., 987 F.2d 129, 131; BNP Paribas Mortgage Corp. v. Bank of Am., N.A., No. 09 Civ. 9783, 2013 WL 6484727, at 6* (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 9, 2013) (Sweet, J.). The changes from the SAC to the TAC are largely superficial or irrelevant and have not remedied the fundamental defects identified by this Court in Tymoshenko II. For the foregoing reasons, the TAC is dismissed . The Clerk of Court is directed to close this case. (As further set forth in this Order) (Signed by Judge Kimba M. Wood on 9/18/2015) (kl) Modified on 9/18/2015 (kl). (Entered: 09/18/2015)

Filed: 8/28/2013
OPINION & ORDER re: #103574 66 MOTION to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction and For Failure to State a Claim filed by Nadra Bank. For the foregoing reasons, Nadra Bank's motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint is GRANTED,  as to Plaintiffs' ATS claim and  with respect to Plaintiffs' RICO claim. This Opinion resolves Docket Entry 66. (Signed by Judge Kimba M. Wood on 8/28/2013) (lmb) Modified on 9/16/2013 (sdi). (Entered: 08/28/2013)


Filed: 3/28/2013
OPINION & ORDER: The Court GRANTS Defendant RUE's motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' claims for lack of personal jurisdiction. [Dkt. No. 56]. Plaintiffs' claims are dismissed . (Signed by Judge Kimba M. Wood on 3/26/2013)

Filed: 3/27/2013
OPINION & ORDER: #103054 The Court GRANTS Defendant RUE's motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' claims for lack of personal jurisdiction. [Dkt. No. 56]. Plaintiffs' claims are dismissed . (Signed by Judge Kimba M. Wood on 3/26/2013) (ft) Modified on 4/1/2013 (jab). (Entered: 03/27/2013)

Filed: 4/18/2013
ORDER: The Court denies Tymoshenko's motion for several reasons, not least of which is that the Court lacks personal jurisdiction over the Ukrainian government. Tymoshenko has also entirely failed to suggest her claim has any likelihood of success on the merits. First, Tymoshenko has failed to demonstrate why the interrogation of Kyrychenko is at all related to her civil claims. Second, contrary to Tymoshenko's assertion, the Treaty includes no affirmative mandate to notify the DOJ about a pending investigation. Rather, the Treaty supplies procedures for requesting assistance in foreign proceedings; it does not require Ukraine to involve the DOJ in Ukrainian criminal investigations involving witnesses located on U.S. soil Consequently, Tymoshenko's request for a TRO is DENIED. (Signed by Judge Kimba M. Wood on 4/18/2013) (ft) Modified on 4/18/2013 (ft). (Entered: 04/18/2013)

http://ecf.nysd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_doc.pl?caseid=378317&de_seq_num=426&dm_id=13666325&doc_num=118

Bo, really?...

I'm looking at the same info you are...

http://www.plainsite.org/dockets/jo8t7oz8/new-york-southern-district-court/tymoshenko-et-al-v-firtash-et-al/

These are individual motions and filings from both the plaintiffs and defendants ruled on and placed in the docket over the course of the trail not the Judgment.

C'mon now you know better....

Brass

[BillyB]

here's a link to the lawsuit

http://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/manafort-complaint-2.pdf

Based on the date that was filed, Yulia was currently on trial in Ukraine.


Some of you may be pleased to learn an ally of Manafort said "Manafort not challenging Trump anymore. Mailing it in. Staff suicidal." If true, you may not need to waste anymore time talking about Manafort and the Trump connection if they quit working together. One reason Yanu lost his first election was because he didn't listen to Manafort's advice. The second time Yanu ran for president, he followed Manafort's advice. Although Manafort is a Republican, he molded Yanu into a likable Bill Clinton using some of Bill's lines such as "I feel your pain." when speaking to citizens.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-allies-plot-candidate-intervention-after-disastrous-48-hours-n622216

[Boethius]

The latest revelations on Manafort -[/c

On a leafy side street off Independence Square in Kiev is an office used for years by . . . Paul Manafort, when he consulted for Ukraine’s ruling political party. His furniture and personal items were still there as recently as May.

And Mr. Manafort’s presence remains elsewhere here in the capital, where government investigators examining secret records have found his name, as well as companies he sought business with, as they try to untangle a corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections during the administration of Mr. Manafort’s main client, former President Viktor F. Yanukovych.

Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials. . . .

Among the hundreds of murky transactions these companies engaged in was an $18 million deal to sell Ukrainian cable television assets to a partnership put together by Mr. Manafort and a Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of President Vladimir V. Putin. . .

Anti-corruption officials there say the payments earmarked for Mr. Manafort, previously unreported, are a focus of their investigation, though they have yet to determine if he actually received the cash. While Mr. Manafort is not a target in the separate inquiry of offshore activities, prosecutors say he must have realized the implications of his financial dealings.

“He understood what was happening in Ukraine,” said Vitaliy Kasko, a former senior official with the general prosecutor’s office in Kiev. “It would have to be clear to any reasonable person that the Yanukovych clan, when it came to power, was engaged in corruption.”

Mr. Kasko added, “It’s impossible to imagine a person would look at this and think, ‘Everything is all right.’”  . . .

(A) cache of documents discovered after the fall of Mr. Yanukovych’s government  . . . known in Ukraine as the “black ledger,” are a chicken-scratch of Cyrillic covering about 400 pages taken from books once kept in a third-floor room in the former Party of Regions headquarters on Lipskaya Street in Kiev. The room held two safes stuffed with $100 bills, said Taras V. Chornovil, a former party leader who was also a recipient of the money at times. He said in an interview that he had once received $10,000 in a “wad of cash” for a trip to Europe. . .

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau, which obtained the ledger, said in a statement that Mr. Manafort’s name appeared 22 times in the documents over five years, with payments totaling $12.7 million. The purpose of the payments is not clear. Nor is the outcome, since the handwritten entries cannot be cross-referenced against banking records, and the signatures for receipt have not yet been verified. . .

]“Paul Manafort is among those names on the list of so-called ‘black accounts of the Party of Regions,’ which the detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine are investigating,” the statement said. “We emphasize that the presence of P. Manafort’s name in the list does not mean that he actually got the money, because the signatures that appear in the column of recipients could belong to other people.” . . .

While working in Ukraine, Mr. Manafort had also positioned himself to profit from business deals that benefited from connections he gained through his political consulting.  One of them, according to court filings, involved a network of offshore connections that he had gained through his political consulting.  One of them, according to court filings, involved a network of offshore companies that government investigators and independent journalists in Ukraine have said was used to launder public money and assets purportedly stolen by cronies of the government . . . Mr. Manafort continued working in Ukraine after the demise of Mr. Yanukovych's government, helping allies of the ousted president and others form a political bloc that opposed the new pro-Western administration.  Some of his aides were in Ukraine as recently as this year, and Ukrainian company records give no indication that Mr. Manafort has formally dissolved the local branch of his company, Davis Manafort International, directed by a longtime assistant, Konstantin V. Kilimnik.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/15/us/politics/paul-manafort-ukraine-donald-trump.html?&hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

[BillyB]

The latest revelations on Manafort -[/c

Has any government decided to put Manafort on trial or is his attorney correct this is just politically motivated accusations?

Why is our media giving an employee of Trump so much attention when there is actual proof big Donors of Hillary's such as George Soros donating money and then given her instructions on what to do in foreign policy situations? If Trump was caught doing that, the media would have material that would last weeks.

[Boethius]

This is interesting, particularly the tweets listed here -


http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/08/15/daily-202-can-trump-chairman-paul-manafort-survive-new-ukraine-revelations/57b0ec7ccd249a2fe363ba20/

[Slumba]

Hillary's spokesman sneered, "$12.7 million? He's a lightweight." 

[Boethius]

$12.7 million stolen from the Ukrainian treasury is a heck of a lot more, proportionately.

[BillyB]

$12.7 million stolen from the Ukrainian treasury is a heck of a lot more, proportionately.

We can expect Ukraine to prosecute Manafort, especially since they're looking for support from Washington. If they don't prosecute Manafort, then that secret ledger doesn't amount to anything. When you find out Ukraine is going to take action, let us know.

[Brasscasing]

I highly doubt they'll tie any wrong doing to Manafort. Being mentioned on a ledger shows nothing. Even the Ukrainian investigators are saying it doesn't mean anything one way or the other.

Meanwhile the real story that Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta, helped a Russian government-linked company bag $35 million is ignored...

Media Lust After Trump Russian Connection

NYT hypes Manafort Ukrainian work, avoids Clinton's massive Moscow dealings

..."Podesta and Clinton came under fire earlier this month when a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report exposed that Podesta had never disclosed the deal in mandatory filings.

Indeed, the $35 million figure from just this one Clinton-backed deal dwarfs the roughly $12 million The New York Times alleges Manafort was paid by Ukrainian officials — never mind the fact there is no connection to Trump whatsoever.

But The New York Times never ran a story on Podesta's undisclosed Joule Unlimited hookup from Clinton's deal with the Kremlin."...

http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/media-lust-trump-russian-connection/

Just more left wing media Bullsh*t trying to muddy the waters.

Brass

[Gator]

The latest revelations on Manafort -[/c

These accounts should be investigated further.  And if Paul Manafort did anything illegal, he should be prosecuted. 

The Clinton campaign and the news media will certainly push these.  If the shoe were on the other foot, Hillary Clinton would  ignore the media.  Paul Manafort impresses me as someone who would personally give a spoken explanation.   

High level political candidates in foreign countries frequently retain political campaign consultants.  Large teams come in and do a variety of research and other tasks over an extended period, e. g. focus groups.  Yeltsin employed such an American team when he ran for President.   

This is the important part.    The expenses and consulting fees are large.  The candidate pays the consultant.  The consultant does not know the specific source of the candidate's  money used to pay his invoice. 

[Gator]

I highly doubt they'll tie any wrong doing to Manafort.....Meanwhile the real story that Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta, helped a Russian government-linked company bag $35 million is ignored...

Let us see who dodges the issue and who makes a statement. 

[Brasscasing]

Let us see who dodges the issue and who makes a statement.

Manafort's already denied the NYT story...

Manafort blasts NYT, denies he accepted Ukraine cash payments

“Once again, the New York Times has chosen to purposefully ignore facts and professional journalism to fit their political agenda, choosing to attack my character and reputation rather than present an honest report,” Manafort said in a statement obtained by NBC News. “The suggestion that I accepted cash payments is unfounded, silly and nonsensical.”

Read more: www.politico.com

The full statement...

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cp5MIe-XgAAyUXH.jpg:large

Now, coincidently enough, in doing my due diligence attempting to get the real story from a source document or Ukraine news website I come across this...

NABU, FBI sign memo of understanding
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have signed a memorandum of Understanding to strengthen existing cooperation between the agencies as they pursue anti-corruption initiatives.

www.kyivpost.com

FBI to help Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Bureau in the fight against corruption of high-ranking officials

..."The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has a long history of cooperation with U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. A new memorandum was released concerning crimes connected with international money-laundering and asset recovery."...

..."Sytnyk made assurances that NABU will fully cooperate with the FBI. “If we ask them about something, they can involve financial intelligence in resolution of the problem,” he said."...

http://uawire.org

All of a sudden the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle start to fall into place as to how Manafort's name may have cropped up in the first place.

Especially when you discover that this guy also has his fingers in the pie...

From the same article..."In 2016, Sytnyk commented on information from ZN.UA stating that during the talk with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, twice insisted on the need to ensure that NABU remain separate from the SSU’s technical wiretapping abilities."...

I'm starting to smell a politically motivated rat...

Brass

[Muzh]

Manafort's already denied the NYT story...

Manafort blasts NYT, denies he accepted Ukraine cash payments

“Once again, the New York Times has chosen to purposefully ignore facts and professional journalism to fit their political agenda, choosing to attack my character and reputation rather than present an honest report,” Manafort said in a statement obtained by NBC News. “The suggestion that I accepted cash payments is unfounded, silly and nonsensical.”

Read more: www.politico.com

Oooo, I can hardly wait for the lawsuit to put these liberal bastards in their places.

The full statement...

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cp5MIe-XgAAyUXH.jpg:large

Expecting anything else? 

[/size]

Now, coincidently enough, in doing my due diligence attempting to get the real story from a source document or Ukraine news website I come across this...

NABU, FBI sign memo of understanding
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have signed a memorandum of Understanding to strengthen existing cooperation between the agencies as they pursue anti-corruption initiatives.

www.kyivpost.com

FBI to help Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Bureau in the fight against corruption of high-ranking officials

..."The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) has a long history of cooperation with U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. A new memorandum was released concerning crimes connected with international money-laundering and asset recovery."...

..."Sytnyk made assurances that NABU will fully cooperate with the FBI. “If we ask them about something, they can involve financial intelligence in resolution of the problem,” he said."...

http://uawire.org

All of a sudden the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle start to fall into place as to how Manafort's name may have cropped up in the first place.

Especially when you discover that this guy also has his fingers in the pie...

From the same article..."In 2016, Sytnyk commented on information from ZN.UA stating that during the talk with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, twice insisted on the need to ensure that NABU remain separate from the SSU’s technical wiretapping abilities."...

I'm starting to smell a politically motivated rat...

Brass

Ah, yes. The big left-wing conspiracy...

[Brasscasing]

Oooo, I can hardly wait for the lawsuit to put these liberal bastards in their places.




Expecting anything else? 

[/size]

Ah, yes. The big left-wing conspiracy...

I wouldn't go so far as to say "conspiracy" but possibly a smear which would be a tried and true left wing tactic. It might be prophetic you did though.

Brass

[Muzh]

I wouldn't go so far as to say "conspiracy" but possibly a smear which would be a tried and true left wing tactic. It might be prophetic you did though.

Brass

Brass, the last I looked Lee Atwater was a Republican. 

[Brasscasing]

Brass, the last I looked Lee Atwater was a Republican. 

Atwater had nothing on the modern day Democratic party machine.

Brass

[Gator]

Last night, the Democrats were pursuing the Paul Manafort issue, extending it to criticize Trump's comments about Russia and Putin.  One even said on CNN, "Trump's campaign is a subsidiary of Putin."  Don Lemon said something like, "That comment is going too far." 

I was very busy today.  I see nothing in current news.  Did anything happen? 

[Boethius]

I highly doubt they'll tie any wrong doing to Manafort. Being mentioned on a ledger shows nothing. Even the Ukrainian investigators are saying it doesn't mean anything one way or the other.

No, Manafort received $12.5 million in payments, based on a secret ledger kept, but Ukrainian investigators are trying to confirm his signature for receipt thereof.  As this was a Party of Regions slush fund (with state money), I doubt someone would have forged Manafort's signature.  Moreover, UKrainian signatures are very distinct in style.  There was a second ledger with payments in drips and drabs, with Manafort's name attached, but there is no proof he received those payments, and no signatures attached. 

Manafort was also involved in attempting to acquire a state asset (cable television assets) with criminal oligarch Oleg Deripaska.  Anyone who knows anything about Ukraine knows that state assets are usually stolen in the form of "sales" at less than fair market value, based on favours from those in power.  That is really the larger issue here.  Manafort was in to his neck with the most vile thieves in Ukraine, and was attempting to benefit personally, as well, at the expense of the average Ukrainian living on less than $200 a month.  Why is their economy such a shambles?  Because oligarchs and the sociopaths who have no trouble aiding them have zero regard for selling state assets for their own personal benefit.

[Gator]

Because oligarchs and the sociopaths who have no trouble aiding them have zero regard for selling state assets for their own personal benefit.

Or when a position of authority exchanging state favors for donations.

[Boethius]

Yes, that as wrong too.  However, in most of the West, where there is a rule of law, that can be prosecuted and if not, legislators can change laws.  That doesn't happen in corrupt countries.

[Brasscasing]

No, Manafort received $12.5 million in payments, based on a secret ledger kept, but Ukrainian investigators are trying to confirm his signature for receipt thereof.  As this was a Party of Regions slush fund (with state money), I doubt someone would have forged Manafort's signature.  Moreover, UKrainian signatures are very distinct in style.  There was a second ledger with payments in drips and drabs, with Manafort's name attached, but there is no proof he received those payments, and no signatures attached. 

Manafort was also involved in attempting to acquire a state asset (cable television assets) with criminal oligarch Oleg Deripaska.  Anyone who knows anything about Ukraine knows that state assets are usually stolen in the form of "sales" at less than fair market value, based on favours from those in power.  That is really the larger issue here.  Manafort was in to his neck with the most vile thieves in Ukraine, and was attempting to benefit personally, as well, at the expense of the average Ukrainian living on less than $200 a month.  Why is their economy such a shambles?  Because oligarchs and the sociopaths who have no trouble aiding them have zero regard for selling state assets for their own personal benefit.

Quite an imagination you have there, Bo.

In the real world here's what's been gleaned by the investigators so far...

..."Paul Manafort’s name is among those included in the list of the black accounts of the Party of Regions (the pro-presidential political force in 2010-early 2014, - 112 International). The relevant data is being investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU). According to the lists, the expenses related to this person totaled about 12,7 million US dollars. The respective records started in November 2007 and finished in October 2012’, the NABU’s press service says.

However, the investigators say, there is a chance that Manafort didn’t actually get this money – there are signatures of other people in the ‘receivers’ column"...

..."The NABU reported that Manafort’s name emerged in the party’s papers 22 times in five years; the purpose of the payments in unclear yet."...

112.international

...So, in short. The reality of what's really happened here is quite a departure from the conjecture, smears and outright lies by the NYTs, Boethius' and various other all and sundry left wing nut bars trying to squeeze the biggest smear from as little information as possible.

Brass



 

[Boethius]

The receivers column you refer to is a different set of books than the $12 million I referred to.  The column you referred to is for small amounts dispensed in cash, with signatures for receipt of that cash.  They generally were for small amounts.  Those are the amounts that Ukrainian prosecutors have not yet determined were paid to Mr. Manafort. 

Boethius' and various other all and sundry left wing nut bars

Thanks for the respectful dialogue.

[Boethius]

Here's a piece in May of this year from a Ukrainian paper.  It states quite clearly that the Ukrainian view is that Manafort undermined Ukrainian democracy.





http://antikor.com.ua/articles/102808-manafort_zrobiv_prezidentom_janukovicha_rozduv_v_ukrajini_movne_pitannja_druhitj_z_rosijsjkimi_oliga

[Brasscasing]

The receivers column you refer to is a different set of books than the $12 million I referred to.  The column you referred to is for small amounts dispensed in cash, with signatures for receipt of that cash.  They generally were for small amounts.  Those are the amounts that Ukrainian prosecutors have not yet determined were paid to Mr. Manafort. 

So now there's the Bo set of ledgers totaling 12 million and the NABU seized ledger showing 12.7 million? - Not likely.

You need to start linking some substantiation for this conjecture you're spinning.

Brass

[Boethius]

There are two separate ledgers.  The $12.7 million came directly from the Party of Regions.  Where the funds came from is unclear, but the payments were hidden, which is illegal.  I don't have much of an issue with that, as it is internal to Ukrainian political laws.  A second ledger was for disbursements for various things from a slush fund.  Those payments were physically signed for as they were disbursed, and were for small amounts, $100 here and there.   Mr. Manafort's name appears as the recipient of some of those payments, but prosecutors are not certain that he ever received them, or that he signed for those payments.  The reason names would be hidden is because typically, such payments are made for nefarious purposes. 


However, what struck me the most was the attempt to privatize state assets for his own personal benefit, at far less than fair market value.  That is common among Ukrainian politicians and their hangers on, but it is still theft.