By Associated Press - Wednesday, December 11, 2019

NEW YORK (AP) - A business associate of Rudy Giuliani charged with conspiring to make illegal campaign contributions should have his bail revoked because he tried to hide that he has the means to flee the country, prosecutors said in court papers filed Wednesday.

The prosecutors in federal court in Manhattan accused Lev Parnas of misleading authorities about the extent of his assets when he was released from jail on $1 million bond - secured with $200,000 cash - and put under house arrest in Florida following his arrest in October. His lawyers asked the court earlier this month to loosen the restrictions by allowing to leave his home during the day.

The government responded on Wednesday by telling a judge that the Ukraine-born Parnas should be put back behind bars because he “poses a significant risk of flight for several reasons, the chief among which are his considerable ties abroad and access to seemingly limitless sources of foreign funding.”

Parnas failed to disclose that he received $1 million from a Russian bank account in September, prosecutor said. Bank records also show that same month he spent more than $70,000 on private air travel, they added.

The defendant, “who is already charged with making false statements, appears to have made false or, at best, inconsistent and materially misleading statements … to the government about his assets and income,” the papers say.

There was no immediate response to email on Wednesday seeking comment from a lawyer for Parnas.

Parnas and another men charged in the case, Igor Fruman, worked with Giuliani to try to get Ukrainian officials to investigate the son of Democrat Joe Biden. Both men have pleaded not guilty.

Giuliani, President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, has said he had no knowledge of illegal donations.

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