Paul Manafort sued in California bankruptcy court
Former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort is being sued in California bankruptcy court by a man who says Manafort falsely claimed he was a creditor for a failed estate. Thomas H. Casey, the bankruptcy trustee, says that Manafort identified himself as a creditor for a Bel Air estate and claimed he was owed $2.7 million.
Documents filed with the court indicate that just before the company that owned the estate, Baylor Holding LLC, filed for bankruptcy, Manafort recorded a deed of trust for the $2.7 million that, according to Reuters, "positioned himself as a secured creditor" for the property, which he was developing with his son-in-law, Jeffrey Yohai.
The lawsuit is related to a Bel Air estate that the Wall Street Journal identifies as a a failed house-flipping undertaking by Yohai. According to the complaint, Yohai and Manafort's wife, Kathleen, deposited $2.7 million to buy the mansion. As such, Casey claims that Manafort made an equity investment into the estate, and not a loan that would make him a creditor eligible for a payout.
Yohai appears to have angered neighbors by renting out the mansion on Air BNB for $1,299 per night for all-night parties, according to the Bel Air Association, which published several posts complaining about the way the property was being used in recent months:
Another unruly party on Tuesday night, the third party in less than a week, was the last straw for many neighbors. Party goers habitually block the dangerous blind curb by illegally parking on both sides of the street. Property damage and late night disruption to neighbors is commonplace as drunken 20-somethings ring random doorbells and leave empty liquor bottles strewn along the street. And when they need a break from blasting the music into the canyon, the party-goers seem to enjoy tossing their lite [SIC] cigarette butts into the hillside.
The association says that when the house isn't being rented for weekend parties, it's being advertised as "Fourth Dimension Recovery: Exclusive Sober Living Residence."
The value for the single-family property in January 27, 2017 was $8,673,143, according to the complaint.
Manafort is currently facing more than 30 counts of bank fraud, making false statements to investigators and other charges in two criminal cases as part of Robert Mueller's ongoing special counsel investigation. He has previously pleaded not guilty.
CBS News' Clare Hymes contributed to this report.
