The latest charges filed against Russian bot and Trump for Autocrat campaign chief Paul Manafort, reveal a conspiracy of sleaze and shadiness that was enabled by U.S. banks.
There has been much speculation about the identity of “person A,” cited in the Mueller probe, I want to focus on “Lender B,” which reportedly is Citizens’ Bank of Rhode Island.
Latest Mueller indictment could pose risks for banks
Along with the prospect that one of Citizens' employees allegedly aided an attempt to commit loan fraud, the details in the indictment indicate the bank failed to heed the results of its basic due diligence, eventually lending Manafort $3.4 million despite twice having reason to be wary of Manafort's creditworthiness, prosecutors said.
In the first case, Citizens noticed that Manafort failed to disclose loans on other properties in New York in his application for a $3.4 million loan, using a condo in Manhattan's trendy SoHo neighborhood as collateral.
That's when Manafort asked Gates to find an insurance broker to hand over an old insurance report that didn't list one of the loans, making it appear as if he didn't have as much debt as he did, according to the indictment.
"Good job on the insurance issues," Manafort wrote to Gates, the court papers show.
In a second instance, Citizens was apparently unwilling to loan Manafort money after noticing $1.5 million on his balance sheet from another account. But the bank's concern was apparently mollified after Manafort and Gates asked their tax accountant to send the bank a back-dated document falsely stating the $1.5 million had been forgiven, court papers show.
There have been times in my life where the month has lasted longer than my money.
Now thanks to the Mueller probe and Paul Manafort, I know that whenever I find myself short on capital, there is a gangsta bank that can be mollified with back dated documents, that will lend me 3 million dollars.
Because I am pretty sure they treat all loan applicants the same. After all it is a Citizens Bank and I am a citizen too.
Manafort and Citizens have displayed a penchant for fiction. Here’s some fiction they might have actually profited from:
Old Polonius gives advice to his son Laertes, before his departure to Paris. Polonius wholesales a full stockroom of wise quotes and aphorisms, and this is one of the most famous phrases:
Polonius
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be,
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.Hamlet, Act I, Scene III.