David Correia, the last defendant at large in alleged schemes tied to longtime pals of Rudy Giuliani’s, was arrested at JFK Wednesday morning, TPM has learned.
A law enforcement official could not say whether Correia was arrested upon arrival or departure. The Miami Herald first reported the news of Correia’s arrest.
Correia is a longtime business partner of Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas, two Soviet-born American businessmen. The three – along with Andrey Kukushkin – were indicted last week on charges related to an alleged criminal campaign finance scheme to subvert federal reporting requirements and funnel money into GOP congressional campaigns.
CNN reported that Correia was arrested after arriving at the airport on a flight.
A resident of West Palm Beach, Florida, Correia is the last of the four defendants to enter federal custody. He is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow in Manhattan federal court along with his other three co-defendants.
Correia is a director with Parnas at Fraud Guarantee, a Boca Raton-based firm that offers anti-fraud insurance to investors. Reuters reported on Tuesday that Giuliani had been paid $500,000 by the firm.
He also attended at least one event with Fruman – and the President – hosted by America First Action, a pro-Trump Super PAC. Parnas is accused of lying about the origin of a $325,000 contribution he made to the PAC, a mysterious transaction that TPM wrote about last month. The Parnas-owned firm that actually made the contribution – Aaron Investments – used to list Correia as its registered agent.
Correia also registered a firm in Nevada called Cannabis Management Group Inc. with Kukushkin. That company later took on the name Strategic Investment Group, Inc.
Correia’s business activities – and residence – appear to have been centered mostly on Florida and the budding Nevada pot business. It’s not clear why he would have been at New York City’s JFK International Airport.
