Cindy Laporta became the first witness in the bank and tax fraud trial of former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort to be granted immunity in exchange for her testimony.
Laporta, an accountant, told the jury Friday she helped Manafort falsify financial documents to both lower his taxes and get him a better rate on a loan. Both were done at the direction of his business partner Rick Gates, who featured more prominently in Laporta's testimony than most other witnesses thus far.
In one case, she stated an inflated loan amount on Manafort's 2014 tax return, which helped reduce his taxes. She also sent false documents and lied about the status of one of his properties in New York City in an effort to help him secure a mortgage on it. NBC News writes:
The situation started in 2016 when Paul Manafort started applying for mortgage loans for his house on Howard Street. Laporta testified that Rick Gates told her that it was used as a second home, rather than a rental. "The rate for a second home is better than a rate on a rental property," she said. Tax documents showed that the house on Howard Street had brought in more than $115,000 in 2015, when it was available for rent 365 days a year.
Laporta testified that Gates had told her how the home was used and she took his word for it rather than checking into it herself. When the loan was denied, it opened up another can of worms and Laporta said she sent false emails at Gates' direction to help cover their tracks.
But Laporta struck a similar note to other witnesses when it came to Manafort's offshore bank accounts.
She was given a list of over a dozen foreign entities and said she didn't know what they were.
Manafort's other accountant, James Philip Ayliff, testified that he had refused to misrepresent the nature of one of Manafort's residences, despite being asked to do so. Prosecutors produced an email in which Manafort claimed a residence on 5th Avenue was never rented out and instructed Ayliff to declare it a personal residence. Ayliff said he chose not to do as instructed.
Ayliff said that it was his understanding that it was always a rental property. "I told the bank that it was rental, not a personal residence," Ayliff said.
Ayliff also provided a notable moment of testimony that apparently hit Manafort's wife pretty hard. He said Manafort had denied owning any foreign bank accounts.
He was walked through a list of 15 Cyprus entities and Ayliff said that he thought they were Manfort's clients or wasn't aware of them altogether.
At this point, Manafort's wife, Kathleen, left the courtroom looking visibly upset. She later returned.
Overall Ayliff said working with Manafort and Gates was difficult—they often pushed deadlines and weren't very responsive.
[Manafort lawyer Kevin] Downing asked if it was Gates or Manafort that he worked with primarily. Ayliff responded "Both, but towards the end it was mostly Gates."