| In SDNY Parnas Lawyer McMahon Asks
Off Case Due to Parnas Diminished Funds
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Periscope
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Dec 24 – Whether any US
government agency engaged in
wiretapping not authorized by
a court in connection with the
prosecution of Lev Parnas,
Igor Fruman, David Correia and
Andrey Kukushkin came up near
the end of a conference in the
case on December 2,
live-tweeted by Inner City
Press here.
More on Patreon, here.
On December
24, Parnas' lawyer Edward B.
MacMahon asked to be allowed
to drop Parnas as a client,
due to Parnas' diminished
ability to pay legal fees.
He wrote:
"Discovery is yet to be
completed, no pre-trial
motions have been filed, and a
trial date is yet to be set by
the Court. 3. In this
action, I am joined by New
York-based criminal defense
attorney Joseph A. Bondy as
co-counsel. Since I entered my
appearance, Mr. Parnas’
apparent ability to fund his
defense has diminished. It
thus would constitute a
significant hardship for Mr.
Parnas to continue being
represented by two attorneys
in this matter." Watch this
site.
On December
17 Parnas and his other lawyer
Joseph A. Bondy argued against
the government's requested
revocation of his bail, and
even for more freedom in
Florida where Parnas is
living. After nearly two hours
of argument, things remained
exactly the same, with Judge
Oetken denying both sides'
applications. Here's some
of how it went, more on
Patreon here.
AUSA Donaleski:
Parnas has a foreign
benefactor, a Ukrainian
oligarch - Judge Oetken: Is
that Mr Furtash? AUSA: Yes.
Parnas has no compunction
about lying to the government
about the true sources of his
funds. GPS monitoring cannot
mitigate the risk.
AUSA: He
could cut off his bracelet.
Pre-Trial if they got notice
would go to his house, not to
the airport. [Inner City
Press: why not?] AUSA: We've
seen a pattern of misleading.
I know your Honor has spoken
with officer Samson.
AUSA: We
believe Parnas was preparing
to flee. He has no issue with
lying to Pre-Trial. He also
misleads about his assets. He
lied about income from the law
firm. He submitted an
affidavit. I can hand it up -
Judge Oetken: yes, please
AUSA Donaleski:
Parnas does not disclose the
loan his wife received.
Defense said Parnas still
needed access to some
information listened in the
affidavit. People of course
know who they work for. He
told Pre-Trial in Virginia
about the law firm. Then
omitted
Judge
Oetken: The form asks, Your
employer. Would you list a
former employer? AUSA
Donaleski: Parnas was still
receiving income from the law
firm. They are his employer.
There is no reason he would
tell pre-trial but omit from
sworn affidavit to the
government. AUSA
Donaleski: Let's turn to
assets. The form asks, what
assets do you have. Mrs Parnas
lives with him. The
money she has comes from
him. But all he disclosed was
a Suntrust account of his
wife, for $450,000, a student
account, and another with
$2000.
AUSA
Donaleski: So it came to
$500,000. We consented to
lowering the bond to
$200,000. Judge Oetken:
This October 17 email
correspondence, did it mention
the $1 million loan from a
foreign source? AUSA: It did
not.
AUSA: The
next day, October 18, Mr Bondy
gave slightly more information
that I understand he has
provided to the court for
today. Judge Oetken: But he
did disclose the $1 million
wire transfer. AUSA: Only
after we has consented to a
lower bail package.
AUSA: Then Parnas
did not disclose the wire
transfer, the law firm, or
that he had bought a house.
Judge Oetken: Wasn't it
apparent then to the
government that he was not
reporting his wife's income as
his own. AUSA: It wasn't yet
clear to us.
AUSA: We only recently
received the records from
SunTrust. [Inner City Press:
Isn't this now called "Truist"
- ironically - with a merger
just approved by the Federal
Reserve and FDIC? #AML] AUSA:
There's Parnas bragging he was
the highest paid translator
Judge
Oetken: I know you are
an expensive lawyer, but not
that expensive. Bondy: There
was the $200,000 hard money
deposit. And my $100,000
fee. Since then, Parnas
can't speak with co-defendant
Correia, who did much of his
bookkeeping and secretarial.
Bondy: Here
is a letter in which their
accounting firm fires the
Parnes'... Parnas had a four
month contract with the law
firm. [As he speaks,
AUSAs Donaleski and Roos
whisper to each other; Zolkind
stares straight ahead to Judge
Oetken.] Bondy: I told
Pre-Trial that Parnas would
stay away from boat slips, as
Donaleski requested-- Judge
Oetken: I think it was Mr.
Zolkind, not Ms. Donaleski.
Bondy: OK. Next I heard I was
on my way to a professional
conference and suddenly I hear
from the government
Judge
Oetken: I spoke with Pre-Trial
Officer Samson on December 13
and he said, as the government
does, that he led him to
believe that I had encourage
the loosening of conditions.
I'm not relying on that, might
have been spin. But be
careful. Bondy: I was careful
Inner City Press
@innercitypress · 28m Judge
Oetken: I'm going to take a
brief break, but I'd like to
see if the government has
anything. Oh, Mr. Bondy, were
you done? Bondy: No. I have a
few points. Judge Oetken: Go
ahead and make them. Bondy:
There's no mandatory minimum
in this case.
Bondy: Mr
Parnas, unlike some even in
the government, wants to
provide information. And that
would be relevant at
sentencing, if there ever is a
conviction.
Bondy: The
other cases they cite, I don't
know if people who are cutting
their GPS bracelets and going
to the Dominican Republic have
contacts here like Mr Parnas
does [Hmm....] I renew my
request the court grants
Parnas the ability to be
outside
Bondy: We saw Mr.
Fruman & his wife at a
baseball game over
Thanksgiving, risk of flight?
[Baseball on Thanksgiving?]
Donaleski: Even if house under
name of his wife, it's his
property [too?] It was omitted
from his affidavit. Judge
Oetken: They didn't own it yet
AUSA Donaleski:
We're heard he's hired armed
security to take his kids to
school. Who's paying for that?
He might flee if there's a
superseding indictment. Bondy:
There's an oligarch in Ukraine
who threatens Parnas. Parnas
filed a criminal complaint
against him.
Judge Oetken:
What's the timing of the
complaint Parnas filed in
Ukraine against the oligarch?
Bondy: Recent. And Giuliani
tweeted about it, a threat to
two American citizens.
Judge Oetken: I'm
going to take a brief break,
but I'd like to see if the
government has anything. Oh,
Mr. Bondy, were you done?
Bondy: No. I have a few
points. Judge Oetken: Go ahead
and make them. Bondy: There's
no mandatory minimum in this
case.
Bondy: Mr Parnas,
unlike some even in the
government, wants to provide
information. And that would be
relevant at sentencing, if
there ever is a conviction.
Bondy: The
other cases they cite, I don't
know if people who are cutting
their GPS bracelets and going
to the Dominican Republic have
contacts here like Mr Parnas
does [Hmm....] I renew my
request the court grants
Parnas the ability to be
outside
Bondy: We saw Mr.
Fruman & his wife at a
baseball game over
Thanksgiving, risk of flight?
[Baseball on Thanksgiving?]
Donaleski: Even if house under
name of his wife, it's his
property [too?] It was omitted
from his affidavit. Judge
Oetken: They didn't own it
yet
AUSA Donaleski:
We're heard he's hired armed
security to take his kids to
school. Who's paying for that?
He might flee if there's a
superseding indictment. Bondy:
There's an oligarch in Ukraine
who threatens Parnas. Parnas
filed a criminal complaint
against him.
Judge Oetken:
What's the timing of the
complaint Parnas filed in
Ukraine against the oligarch?
Bondy: Recent. And Giuliani
tweeted about it, a threat to
two American citizens. Judge
Oetken: OK, I'm going to take
a five minute break. Thread
will continue.
Judge
Oetken is back. He says, It's
relevant that the government
did agree to the bond in
October. That is a baseline.
Given that the government
agreed at that time. I should
be focused on what's different
now than then.
Judge Oetken:
What's different from October?
Alleged misstatements on
financial disclosures. When
you focus on them, I find that
they are not obvious
misstatement. There are
explanations. For example the
law firm - it was a four month
stint.
Judge Oetken:
Assets of his wife? I don't
know that that's a clear and
intentional misstatement. And
that the $1 million came from
a foreign source, I'm not sure
that makes the difference. It
might have violated the
spirit, but does not warrant
revocation of bail
Judge
Oetken: He has complied with
Pre-Trial Services. Requests
on both sides, denied.
Anything further? AUSA: Not
from the government Bondy: No
your honor Judge Oetken: We
are adjourned. More
on Patreon here.
The next
conference in
the case is
set for
February 3 at
2 pm. Here's
the December 2
blow
by blow.
Back on November
1, Igor Fruman had three
requests denied, to loosen
bond restrictions and have his
brother Steve as a bond
co-signer, all denied on
November 1 by
Judge
Oetken.
Periscope here.
Back on October
23 Lev Parnas' lawyer raised
the issue of executive
privilege and the need for a
US Department of Justice taint
team when his client, along
with Igor Fruman, were
arraigned and both pleaded not
guilty.
Inner City
Press thread here.
Judge Oetken
inquired into
whether Parnas
worked for
President
Trump - his
lawyer said no
- then put off
the issues,
and the
setting of a
trial date,
until December
2 at 2 pm.
Parnas will be
under home
detention with
GPS monitoring
in the
Southern
District of
Florida, with
no contact
with
co-defendants
outside the
presence of
counsel.
That's a
condition
co-defendent
David
Correia's
lawyer said he
intended to
revisit,
telling Inner
City Press it
was because of
business
relationships,
see below.
Here's
some of how it
went on
October 23:
Judge
Oetken's
deputy tells
the lawyers,
The room is
cavernous,
please speak
up. Now Judge
Oekten says,
we're hear for
arraignment on
a four count
indictment.
Asks for time
of arrest and
about
presentment
AUSA:
Parnas will be
released on a
$1 million
bond.
Pre-trial
supervision
out of
Southern
District of
Florida. Home
detention with
GPS
monitoring; DC
for legal
visits.
Surrender
passport, no
contact with
co-defendants
outside
presence of
counsel
(Correia
disputes)
AUSA:
Igor Fruman
putting up a
condo. Judge
Oetken
approves the
bail
conditions;
now proceeding
to the
arraignment,
Parnas first.
He waives
public reading
of the
indictment.
Pleads Not
Guilty.
Now
Fruman pleads
not guilt.
Judge Oetken
asks AUSA to
describe the
discover in
the
case.
AUSA: multiple
search
warrants, 50
bank accounts,
"the
investigation
is ongoing."
AUSA:
By the Dec 2,
2 pm
pre-trial
conference US
will know
more. Judge
Oetken: Given
the volume of
discovery, not
setting a
trial date
yet. Might set
it on Dec 2.
Parnas' lawyer
will be out of
the country on
that day, he
says.
Parnas'
lawyer says
there should
be DOJ
taint team,
says that
there are
excutive
privilege
issues...
"hese are
issues we need
to be very
sensitive"
with, he
says.
Judge
Oetken: When
you say
executive
privilege,
you're not
suggesting
your client
worked for the
President, are
you? Parnas'
lawyer: No, my
client worked
with Mr.
Giuliani.
Parnas'
lawyer: If
information
gets out then
we determine
it is all
privileged,
we've got a
problem. AUSA:
This is the
first that
we've heard of
this... With
respect with
executive
privilege,
we're happy to
have a
conversation.
Judge
Oetken to
Parnas'
lawyer: if
there's a
particular
application
that you want
to make, I'm
all ears. Are
you going to
reach a
protective
order? AUSA:
We are working
on it. Judge
Oetken:
Anything else?
Only exclusion
of time under
the Speed
Trial Act. To
Dec 2
Judge
Oetken: Okay,
I'll see you
all on
December 2 at
2 pm. Inner
City Press
said it would
be there- and
it was. The
case is US
v. Parnas, et
al.,
19-cr-00725
(Oetken).
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
Box 20047, Dag Hammarskjold
Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2019 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com for
|
,
