The real star witness in Paul Manafort’s bank and tax fraud trial isn’t his former right-hand man Rick Gates — it’s the trove of documents that show he knowingly hid $60 million in offshore accounts, prosecutors said Wednesday.
In two hours of closing arguments, the government preempted the defense’s efforts to discredit Gates and urged jurors to look at the mountain of evidence presented over the past two weeks.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the star witness in this case is the documents,” Assistant US Attorney Greg Andres told the 12 jurors in Virginia federal court, according to the Washington Post. “That evidence alone is more than sufficient to convict Mr. Manafort.”
Andres reminded the rapt panel that they didn’t have to take Gates’ testimony at “face value” — they just had to “test” it against the evidence.
He said Manafort’s scheme was simple.
“Mr. Manafort lied to keep more money when he had it, and he lied to get more money when he didn’t,” he said, adding, “When you follow the trail of Mr. Manafort’s money, it is littered with lies.”
Gates, who testified as part of a plea deal, said he acted at the behest of his former boss to conceal the millions in 31 foreign accounts to evade taxes and submitted falsified applications to obtain bank loans.
On cross-examination, the defense tried to destroy Gates’ credibility by getting him to admit that he embezzled from Manafort and cheated on his wife.
But Andres said to ignore those indiscretions.
“Was it to distract you?” Andres asked. “Does it matter?”
Andres also encouraged jurors to keep notes of the slew of exhibits introduced at the trial — which he rehashed during summations — so they could examine them during deliberations.
Many of them consisted of bank records, but others were photos of Manafort’s lavish expenses — custom-made clothes, fancy cars and multimillion-dollar properties.
Still, Andres noted, “This case is not about Mr. Manafort’s wealth. It’s not a crime in this country to be wealthy.”
“We’re in this courtroom because Mr. Manafort filed false tax returns and failed to file FBARs,” he added, referring to foreign bank account reports.
