Or fearing Putin and polonium:
Paul Manafort’s efforts to make sure his wife could continue living in the couple’s Palm Beach Gardens home should he go to prison fizzled after special counsel Robert Mueller III filed court papers last week asking a judge to throw out the deal because Manafort lied.
The special counsel in the Russia investigation in November accused Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, of violating his plea agreement by repeatedly lying to federal investigators, according to court records filed by the special counsel’s office last week. One of Manafort’s lawyers is also suspected of briefing Trump’s lawyers on his client’s discussions with federal investigators, according to the New York Times.
***With that promise, Manafort went a step further to protect his wife’s interest and took his name off the deed on Oct. 30 — leaving her the sole owner of the homesteaded residence.
But that move and the homestead exemption now may not be enough to keep prosecutors from seizing the home, experts say. Although Florida has some of the strongest safeguards for homeowners, property — including those with homesteads — can be seized if the government can prove it was purchased with the proceeds of a crime.
“If the government can show the property was purchased from illegal activity, then the government can go against the property,” said attorney Frank Rubino, a Miami, criminal defense lawyer who specializes in federal white-collar cases. “The homestead (exemption) is not protection.”
These people are sick.
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