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Jeffrey Yohai, a former business partner of Manafort's, was
already facing potential jail time after pleading guilty in
February in the prior case, which involved misuse of real estate
loan funds. That agreement included Yohai cooperating with
prosecutors in other criminal probes, Reuters reported in May.
The new charges, which were unsealed on Wednesday, involve
several fraud schemes similar to the conduct in the prior case
in which Yohai had pleaded guilty, the U.S. Attorney for the
Central District of California said in a press release.
"In both criminal cases, Yohai obtained money for what he
claimed was a legitimate purpose, such as an investment, but he
then used the money for personal expenses or to pay debts," the
U.S. Attorney's office said in the release.
Hilary Potashner, a public defender who is representing Yohai,
did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Yohai and Manafort co-invested in four high-priced homes in the
Los Angeles area before defaulting on loans and putting them
into bankruptcy in 2016. The two have exchanged allegations of
wrongdoing and both lost millions on the investments.
Yohai, who got a divorce from Manafort's daughter last August,
pleaded guilty in the first case in February 2018 and had been
out on bond ahead of a planned sentencing date early next year.
According to the press release, Yohai submitted inflated
appraisals in seeking to refinance two of the properties at
issue in the first case. Yohai also sought to defraud the owner
of a rental property with a $60,000 check he falsely claimed was
remitted from his ex-wife's account, the release said.
Yohai faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison
if convicted on a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in
the newly unsealed complaint, the release said.
Manafort himself pleaded guilty in September in a federal court
in Washington to conspiracy against the United States - a charge
that includes a range of conduct from money laundering to
unregistered lobbying - and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
As part of his plea deal, Manafort is cooperating with Special
Counsel Robert Mueller in his probe into possible collusion
between the Trump campaign and Russia - which both Trump and the
Kremlin deny occurred.
Mueller's prosecutors agreed last month to drop criminal charges
against Manafort that a jury had deadlocked on in August in a
separate case against him in Virginia.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne in New York; Editing by Darren
Schuettler)
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