Donald Trump's one-time campaign chairman Paul Manafort is paying a whopping $3.2 million in fines to finally settle federal tax-dodging charges.
A judgment against Manafort was entered for his “willful” failure to file timely legally required annual reports disclosing his ownership — or control — of more than three dozen offshore companies and accounts, according to the watchdog news site The Florida Bulldog. The penalties and interest assessed against him covered the tax years 2013 and 2014.
The $3.2 million settlement was approved by Miami U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz last week.
Trump pardoned Manafort before he left office in 2021, which freed him from jail, but didn't let him off hook for tax fines.
Manafort served as Trump's campaign manager from May to August of 2016. He left his job before he was charged with any crimes, following a flurry of concerns about his ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin and his firm’s lobbying on behalf of pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarchs.
He was convicted of eight criminal counts in 2018, including tax and bank fraud. He later pleaded guilty to two other counts ― one against the U.S. and the other conspiracy to obstruct justice — as part of his plea deal. He was sentenced to a total of 7.5 years.
According to Palm Beach County records, the IRS withdrew federal tax liens totaling $6.3 million against Manafort for the years 2010 to 2014 and 2017 after he apparently paid those back taxes in 2021.
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