President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has pleaded not guilty to a new set of charges that were filed against him last week by special counsel Robert Mueller, who has been probing Russian interference in the U.S. election.
A trial date has been set for Sept. 17.
The new charges allege that Manafort, with former business partner and Trump campaign aide Rick Gates' help, laundered more than $30 million through hidden offshore accounts and "used his hidden overseas wealth to enjoy a lavish lifestyle in the United States without paying taxes on that income."
The two allegedly disguised the money earned from their work in Ukraine as "loans" to avoid taxes, and they doctored financial documents to overstate their income to obtain additional loans.
The indictment says they used the money to buy real estate, make home improvements and, in Gates' case, pay for his children's school tuition.
Gates pleaded guilty last week to financial fraud and lying to investigators in connection with his lobbying efforts for Ukraine's former, Moscow-backed government that predated his role in the Trump campaign.
Mueller has also secured guilty pleas from Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, former foreign affairs adviser, George Papadopoulos, and a former Dutch lawyer, Alex van der Zwaan, for lying to investigators.
