Iran Press/Iran: Michael Cohen, US President Donald Trump's former lawyer, is under investigation for bank and tax fraud, and investigators are looking at more than $20 million in loans to a taxi company he owns with his family, The New York Times reported on Sunday.
The value of those scrutinized loans to Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, had not been previously reported.
The report, which cited multiple sources familiar with the matter, said authorities are additionally looking into whether the former fixer broke any laws by arranging financial deals with women claiming to have had affairs with Trump. The Times said two of its sources indicated that prosecutors could file charges by the end of August.
Lanny Davis, a lawyer for Cohen, did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment about the report from the Times. The newspaper said Cohen and his lawyers declined to comment for its article. A spokesperson for Davis told NBC News: "Lanny cannot comment on advice of counsel since there is an ongoing investigation."
The bank fraud portion of the investigation centers on whether Cohen misrepresented the value of his holdings in order to secure loans from two New York lenders, Sterling National Bank and the Melrose Credit Union, the report said. The Times added that there's no indication Cohen missed payments or caused losses to either financial institution, which, according to the paper, is usually part of a bank fraud charge.
Politics watchers are tracking Cohen's case because he could potentially reach an agreement with prosecutors that would offer him leniency in exchange for his cooperating with Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into whether the Trump campaign was involved with Russian attempts to skew the 2016 U.S. presidential race.
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