Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas pleaded not guilty Monday to swindling millions from investors in his company Fraud Guarantee.
Parnas and two co-defendants, Igor Fruman and Andrey Kukushkin, also pleaded not guilty to violating campaign finance laws during a video arraignment on a superseding indictment in Manhattan federal court.
The trio is accused of illegally channeling cash into US local elections and conspiring with a Russian national to pump foreign funds into Republican campaigns.
A fourth defendant, Fraud Guarantee co-founder David Correia, pleaded guilty last month to one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission about the source of a $325,000 donation to a pro-Trump super PAC. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the top count when he’s sentenced Feb. 8.
Prosecutors allege that he and Parnas blew a majority of investor funds on personal expenses. Giuliani, who is not charged in the case, received $500,000 to work on behalf of Fraud Guarantee, the New York Times reported.
Parnas and Fruman once helped Giuliani investigate the Ukrainian business dealings of Hunter Biden, President-elect Joe Biden’s son. The quartet was first arrested in 2019 then hit with a superseding indictment in September.