Two men with ties to Giuliani arrested on campaign finance charges in Florida

Rawf8/iStock(NEW YORK) — Two men who have reportedly assisted Rudy Giuliani in his efforts to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden’s family have been arrested and are expected to face charges for allegedly violating campaign finance law, a federal law enforcement official tells ABC News.

Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, two Soviet-born businessmen based in Florida, were arrested Wednesday and are expected to face charges from the U.S. Attorneys office in the Southern District of New York. Both Parnas and Fruman have been tied to the work done by the president’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani in Ukraine. Giuliani has had significant business interests in Ukraine. Additionally, for the last year, he has been investigating Hunter Biden and his financial interests in Ukraine. It was not immediately clear the nature of the charges related to Parnas and Fruman or if the charges have any relation to the work being done by Giuliani.

The two have been major donors to the president, making a series of big and small contributions to Trump’s various fundraising vehicles as early as 2016. Their single-biggest contribution — a $325,000 check to pro-Trump super PAC America First Action from last year — was made under the name of their newly established gas company named Global Energy Producers.

According to a court document in a separate case filed by an investor to Global Energy Producers, the investor’s legal team wrote that Parnas and Fruman had bragged to him about their close relationships with key allies of the president, including Giuliani, former Trump-aide-turned Washington lobbyist Brian Ballard and Nick Ayers, the former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence.

Parnas and Fruman, who have been sent a letter from House Democrats last week requesting documents and deposition, along with Giuliani, recently hired President Trump’ former lawyer John Dowd. Dowd on earlier this week announced in a statement that his clients won’t be able to comply with House Democrats’ request for documents and deposition, which are due this week.

Attempts to reach Dowd Thursday for comment were not immediately successful. The news of the arrests was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Copyright © 2019, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on linkedin
LinkedIn
Share on email
Email
Share on print
Print