Managing Partner » Skadden Caught Up In Ukrainian Corruption Probe

Skadden Caught Up In Ukrainian Corruption Probe

November 16, 2017

File Stack and Magnifying Glass
A special investigations unit of the Ukrainian general prosecutor’s office is investigating a 2012 report prepared for the Ukrainian government by Skadden, Arps, Meagher & Flom. The report was commissioned by Ukraine’s former president, Viktor Yanukovych, a Putin ally, who was deposed in a pro-Western revolution three years ago, but the arrangements for the report were handled by Paul Manafort, the lobbyist/Trump campaign manager who is now under indictment. Those arrangements included a $12,000 fee, which the investigators claim is suspiciously low – low enough so it could be awarded without an open tender process. The report exonerated Yanukovych for jailing his political opponent, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. When Special investigator Robert Mueller announced his indictment of Manafort he mentioned the report and said one of Manafort’s offshore accounts actually funneled $4 million to Skadden to pay for it. Manafort and Skadden deny any wrongdoing, but the Ukranian Special Prosecutor wants to question them. They say that Mueller’s team hasn’t contacted them, but if it does they stand ready to provide information about money-laundering by Manafort and his partner Rick Gates.

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