US Prosecutors Investigating Trump Media For Money Laundering Since 2022 - Reports

US federal prosecutors started checks into former US President Donald Trump's company Trump Media over suspected money laundering in 2022, British newspaper The Guardian reported on Wednesday, citing sources

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th March, 2023) US federal prosecutors started checks into former US President Donald Trump's company Trump Media over suspected money laundering in 2022, British newspaper The Guardian reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

Trump Media & Technology Group, founded by Trump in 2021, owns the social network Truth Social, which the former president has been regularly using to post his statements after he was banned on Twitter. The company was initially investigated over its potential merger with a blank check venture Digital World Acquisition Corp.

New York federal prosecutors that took part in the criminal investigation into the company last year started to probe it over potential violations of the money laundering law, according to the newspaper.

Sources familiar with the case told the news outlet that, in late 2022, the federal prosecutors started an investigation into two loans worth $8 million received by Trump Media from two entities allegedly connected with Russia.

The Guardian said that the first tranche totaling $2 million had been transferred to Trump's company through Paxum Bank in December 2021, when Trump Media was on the verge of collapse, and, two months later, it unexpectedly received the second payment of $6 million from ES Family Trust.

The prosecutors are focused on the personality of Anton Postolnikov, a part-owner of Paxum Bank allegedly connected with Russian official Aleksandr Smirnov, according to the report.

The newspaper said that the leadership of Trump Media had even considered the possibility of returning the money due to its unidentified origin, however, rejected the idea since the company needed the funds.