NEWSNew Trump Criminal Investigation Probes Money Laundering With Ties To Russia At Truth Social
Donald Trump's company Trump Media is under federal criminal investigation as authorities seek to discover whether or not the business committed money laundering violations in connection with wire transfers equaling to $8 million that allegedly had ties to Russia.
The media and technology company, which owns the former president's Truth Social platform, first caught the attention of authorities while preparing a merger with with Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) last year.
Prosecutors are specifically looking into a $2 million loan that Trump Media received in December 2021 and a followup $6 million loan received in early 2022. The company was given both payments when it was suffering dire financial problems and was in danger of going under.
Both wire transfers came through the Caribbean, and according to sources close to the situation, they were from lenders that are believed to have ties to allies of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The first transfer was received from Paxum Bank and was allegedly sourced by Patrick Orlando, the chief executive of Digital World. The second loan was via a lender called ES Family Trust, per the wire transfer receipt.
Angel Pacheco, who is the trustee of ES Family Trust, was also believed to be the director of Paxum Bank at the time. Anton Postolnikov, who allegedly is related to Putin supporter Aleksandr Smirnov, is part-owner of Paxum Bank.
Orlando did not reveal the identities of the lenders to Trump Media.
A justice department spokesperson declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.
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This comes only one month after Trump bragged about having a "very good relationship" with Putin, claiming the 70-year-old never would have made the decision to invade Ukraine if he had been President of the United States at the time.
And that wasn't the first time Trump defended the controversial politician. In a 2018 interview, Trump also shot back at the rumors that Russia had interfered with the results of the 2016 election.
"I have great confidence in my intelligence people," the embattled then-president said at the time. "But I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today."
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The Guardian reported the details of the wire transfer receipts.
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