Michael Cohen's Business Partner pleads guilty to tax evasion & agrees to cooperate as a witness

[kpete]

Last edited Tue May 22, 2018, 05:56 PM - Edit history (1)

A significant business partner of Michael Cohen, Evgeny A. Freidman (a Russian immigrant known as the Taxi King), has quietly agreed to cooperate with the government as a potential witness, NYT reports.

A significant business partner of Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s personal lawyer, has quietly agreed to cooperate with the government as a potential witness, a development that could be used as leverage to pressure Mr. Cohen to work with the special counsel examining Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Under the agreement, the partner, Evgeny A. Freidman, a Russian immigrant who is known as the Taxi King, will avoid jail time, and will assist government prosecutors in state or federal investigations, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Mr. Cohen’s conduct was initially examined by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating the 2016 election that led to Mr. Trump’s victory, and then referred to the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan. Last month, federal agents carried out search warrants at Mr. Cohen’s home, his office and a hotel room where he was staying, seeking documents related to his business associates and accountants.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers have been resigned to the strong possibility that the investigation of Mr. Cohen’s businesses could lead him to cooperate with federal prosecutors.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/22/nyregion/michael-cohen-trump-taxi-cooperation.html

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

@ThePlumLineGS
"Trump’s lawyers have been resigned to the strong possibility that the investigation of Cohen’s businesses could lead him to cooperate with federal prosecutors. That likelihood could become greater with a business partner of Cohen’s cooperating with law enforcement."

Link to tweet

A business partner of President Donald Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The partner, the large New York City taxi fleet operator Evgeny Friedman, pleaded guilty Tuesday to evading taxes in court in Albany Court.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/22/michael-cohens-business-partner-evgeny-freidman-agrees-to-cooperate-as-part-of-plea-deal-nyt.html

Link to tweet

http://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-taxi-king-rise-fall-2017-8


****UPDATE****
When TPM interviewed Friedman last year he told @allegrakirkland that he and Michael Cohen "talk daily sometimes."

Link to tweet

MORE:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/cohen-taxi-partner-gene-freidman-cooperating-government-witness

[Leghorn21]

1. +++ !!! Clap clap clap!!!

GREAT news, thank you, k!!

[Grins]

46. More like "Drip...drip...drip..."

[Kirk Lover]

2. Well isn't this a lovely thread. nt

[NewJeffCT]

3. he's flipping for the SDNY

or for Mueller?

[kpete]

7. Both?

Evgeny Freidman, who for many years has been Michael Cohen’s partner in the taxi business, leaves court in Albany on Tuesday after pleading guilty and promising his cooperation in state and federal investigations.CreditNathaniel Brooks for The New York Times


from:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/22/nyregion/michael-cohen-trump-taxi-cooperation.html

[triron]

10. Uh oh Cohen just got deeper in shit.

[KatyMan]

49. I don't think

there's anyone in the country more well and truly fvcked than Michael Cohen.

[paleotn]

27. Sing, baby, sing!

[uponit7771]

36. Nice

[leftynyc]

43. Only for Southern District in NY and state NY

Mueller has NOTHING to do with Cohen. He handed it off to NY.

[NewJeffCT]

45. Thanks

Interesting to see where the state goes with it with the transition to a new AG there

[Blue_true]

4. Friedman.

Had better stay away from buildings taller than two stories, get a food taster - heck he's going to need a lot of them - get a lot of food tasters, and don't buy guns that suicide him.

[Pepsidog]

32. Yea and radioactive minerals as well.

[Blue_true]

40. Something tells me that his life expectancy isn't very long. nt

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. Ruh-ro!

[uponit7771]

6. Cause there had to be ... ANOTHER ... Russian involved in this

[Blue_true]

41. Finding them around every corner and in a lot of trees looks like.

Cohen was Trump's consigiere, there is not way that damned control freak did not know about and was not heavily involved in the goings on.

[bucolic_frolic]

8. We might have sidestepped so much

if they had waded through the taxi medallion enterprises long ago

[Achilleaze]

9. Stinking republican corruption & treason against the USA

[Kingofalldems]

11. But Avenatti owes money to someone!!!

Says the Trumpies.

[Pepsidog]

33. Ain't that the pot calling the kettle black?

[House of Roberts]

12. Throw back the little ones, and pan fry the big ones.

Use tact, poise and reason, and gently squeeze them.

Metaphor courtesy of Steely Dan.

[orangecrush]

13. K&R!

[Cha]

14. This has Got to be making

Michael Cohen very uneasy.. maybe even the Fake?

[Adrahil]

15. The guillotine blade Is almost at the top...Nt

[olegramps]

47. The French realized that there was only one solution, eliminate the problem permanently.

It is strange that there is an analogy to our situation. Many peasants had been convinced by the secular and religious leaders that the nobility had divine appointment over mankind. It was difficult to wipe out the aristocracy as long as they could appeal to the brain washed, undereducated and wealthy merchants to continue to reinstate them. The guillotine was an effect instrument for change.

[BigmanPigman]

16. ANOTHER RUSSIAN!!!!!!

Everybody is Russian these days.
This guy had to cooperate. He faced 25 years in jail, now gets 1 year probation. He owed $5 million and now only has to pay state restitution of $1 million for tax evasion, grand larceny and fraud, etc.

[klook]

34. Just another guy concerned about adoptions, no doubt. (n/t)

[ProudLib72]

38. Don't forget that Cohen's uncle owned the club that served as the Russian mob's headquarters

And that's where Cohen made a lot of his contacts growing up.

[mikeysnot]

51. If he is getting off that easy

he must be giving up massive information.

[Leghorn21]

17. Per NY AG Barbara D. Underwood & Acting Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Nonie Manion:

ALBANY – Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood and Acting Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Nonie Manion announced today the guilty plea of Evgeny A. Freidman, 46, of New York, NY for failure to remit to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance $5 million in 50-cent MTA surcharges between 2012 and 2015. During this time period, Friedman — the CEO of Taxiclub Management Inc. — managed a fleet of over 800 medallion taxicabs out of locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Woodside, and Long Island City. Today, in Albany County Court, Freidman pleaded guilty to Criminal Tax Fraud in the Second Degree and agreed to pay restitution and judgments totaling $5 million to New York State.

“Today, the ‘Taxi King’ admitted that he built his empire by stealing from New Yorkers,” said Attorney General Underwood. “Freidman pocketed money that should have provided much-needed investment in our transit system – and he’ll now have to pay back every cent. Our office will continue to hold accountable those who cheat the system.”

https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-underwood-and-acting-tax-commissioner-manion-announce-conviction-taxi-king-evgeny

[calimary]

18. Oh for Pete's Freakin' Sake! ANOTHER Russian?

W. T. F. ???

I swear, you turn over any rock on the White House grounds, and you're apt to find a Russian underneath it. And inside the executive mansion, every faucet in every bathroom and kitchen in the place emits hot 'n' cold running Russians. There are Russians in the insulation and under every seat cushion, and coming out of the woodwork forcryingoutloud!

I'm in my mid-60s, and I can NEVER remember this many people from a hostile foreign power encamped and established in OUR seat of government? And they're sure as hell aren't there out of the goodness of their hearts, or out of love of America.

[triron]

19. Avenatti stated on "On the Beat" that this associate is just the first to flip, there will

be more.

[empedocles]

26. Avenatti having fun again

Punches Trump in the nose again.

[oasis]

20. Shake 'em up. Shake 'em all up.

[samnsara]

21. i hope they stay safe!

[Uncle Joe]

22. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread kpete

[SleeplessinSoCal]

23. Another God Damned Russian!

[dhol82]

24. Love it! They got Al Capone this way.

Awesome!

[Leghorn21]

25. "Taxi King" is trending at #5!!

it's all fun and games until the Taxi King flips on Michael Cohen
and then Michael Cohen flips on the bloated orange bastard in the
Oval Office hashtag sad
6:02 PM - May 22, 2018

Link to tweet

?s=20

HEY, I'M SQUAWKIN' HERE! "Taxi King" might betray Trump lawyer
Michael Cohen to dodge jail after pleading guilty in tax fraud
case https://nydn.us/2IGARd7

Link to tweet

?s=20


From:
https://mobile.twitter.com/search?q=%22Taxi+King%22

[erronis]

28. Are many of these cases being tried in state courts so the otang can't issue dispensations?

Oh, I meant pardons.

NY has had its history with criminals and should be able to deal with these petty mobsters.

When London and UK start to put the squeeze on the rUSSRian assets there will be a lot of pain in the Kremlin.

[Scurrilous]

29. The King is singing.

[honest.abe]

30. This sounds rather significant.

[BobTheSubgenius]

31. Friedman must have SOME kind of information to offer.

To get that kind of juice on a tax evasion charge when you're probably dead to rights means the feds are really getting something!

[lindysalsagal]

37. It's entirely possible he's got testimony to destroy Cohen's alibis, "forgotten" memories and/or

incorrect timelines: If Cohen is weasling around with dates, places, names, etc, this snake can expose the lies and force Cohen out of his hidey holes. It could be small details that are not in and of themselves illegal activities: They might just deflate Cohen's arguments and render him defenceless. Which is just okey-dokey as far as I'm concerned.

[triron]

35. kick for visibility

[Prof.Higgins]

39. "The Art of the Squeal": a quip about Freidman from O'Donnell's NYC guest! n/t

[Dopers_Greed]

42. Those are serious crimes...he's getting out of a huge amount of jail time

He must have something huge to get that deal.

[Demsrule86]

44. State charges...Trump can't pardon his way out of this one...hahah

[MoonRiver]

48. WOOHOO, let the indictments continue!!

[ck4829]

50. Kick

[Mountain Mule]

52. K&R! nt

[Gothmog]

53. These charges are in state court and so trump can not pardon this idiot