Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas wants a federal judge to ignore prosecutors’ claims that he lied to a pretrial services officer and concealed his finances and to instead loosen his conditions of release, according to a Monday bail memo.
Parnas argued in the filing that a misunderstanding lead Manhattan federal prosecutors to demand his immediate detention on allegations that he lied to the government about his wealth, including a $1 million transfer from a Russian bank account.
Joe Bondy, an attorney for the Miami businessman, wrote in the filing that Parnas had “complied with every condition” of his pre-trial bond agreement.
Allegations that the Giuliani associate lied about his finances are also untrue, Bondy wrote. Parnas tried his best to tell the government about his financial status while interviewed in jail, but had no access to records that would help him “estimate his assets and income derived from self-employment.”
Beyond that, the filing states, Parnas was “not asked about his wife’s accounts or assets,” though much of the Giuliani buddy’s wealth is listed in her name.
The $1 million transfer from Russia, for example, was actually a loan to Parnas’ wife, the document states.
Prosecutors alleged that Parnas’ ties to Ukrainian officials and oligarchs make him an immediate flight risk, and also give him what the government described as “limitless access to foreign funds.”
But Parnas said that he “cannot flee to Ukraine, where he has been the subject of threats since even prior to his arrest.”
He added that his “financial position has diminished significantly since October 2019,” when he and his longtime associate Igor Fruman were arrested on campaign finance charges.
“There is also no evidence that Mr. Parnas or his wife have received any funds from abroad since the time of his arrest, or that either continues to have access to other funding sources,” the document reads.
Prosecutors had also accused Parnas of lying to his pretrial services officer in Florida. The Giuliani associate allegedly suggesting to the officer that a judge had already approved a request for looser conditions of release.
The defendant disputed that in the filing, saying he and his counsel were merely asking for the officer’s “position” on potentially loosening the terms of Parnas’ release.
“To the extent he may have misunderstood, it is clear there was no intent to mislead,” Parnas wrote of the prosecutor’s view that the Giuliani associate had lied to his pretrial services officer.
The filing also states that Parnas is continuing “to produce materials within his custody and control” for Congress, after the House Intelligence Committee issued him a subpoena in October.
“He remains intent upon complying with his subpoena and assisting the Impeachment Inquiry to the fullest extent required,” the document says.
Read the filing here:
