TheCable

Paul Manafort, American lobbyist and former chairman of the 2016 campaign of President Donald Trump, has been jailed for mortgage fraud.

The charges came less than an hour after Manafort was handed a prison sentence of seven years for federal crimes.

Attorney Cyrus, Manhattan district attorney, on Wednesday, charged Manafort with 16 counts charge on mortgage fraud, falsifying business records and conspiracy.

The charges relate to mortgages he reportedly received on properties in New York.

A federal judge in Washington had earlier ruled that Manafort should spend a total of 7 and a half years in federal prison for financial and lobbying crimes and obstruction of justice in two federal cases brought against him by special counsel Robert Mueller in the investigation into Russia meddling in the 2016 election.

Manafort, 69, was sentenced in Virginia to nearly four years in prison for one of his two federal cases.

There are speculations that Trump could pardon Manafort for remaining loyal and not providing any evidence damaging to the president during the two-year Mueller investigation.

But unlike the federal crime, Trump will not be able to pardon Manafort if he is found guilty of the fraud charges.

“No one is beyond the law in New York,” Vance said.

“Following an investigation commenced by our office in March 2017, a Manhattan grand jury has charged Mr. Manafort with state criminal violations which strike at the heart of New York’s sovereign interests.”