Washington (CNN) – Paul Erickson, the political operative who was dating alleged Russian spy Maria Butina, has been indicted on wire fraud and money laundering charges, the US attorney in South Dakota announced on Wednesday.
The charges pertain to defrauding investors and are unrelated to the conspiracy that Butina pleaded guilty to in December. Butina pleaded guilty in federal court to attempting to infiltrate Republican political circles and influence US relations with Russia before and after the 2016 presidential election.
Butina has been cooperating with investigators and offering information on Erickson, who helped her make inroads into the conservative groups she was trying to influence, CNN reported in December.
“The Indictment alleges that on or about 1996, through August of 2018, Erickson knowingly and unlawfully devised a scheme and artifice to defraud and to obtain money from many victims by means of false and fraudulent pretense, representations, and promises,” a news release by the office of US Attorney Ron Parsons reads.
“Erickson made various false and fraudulent representations to individuals located in South Dakota and elsewhere, to induce those investors to give him money to invest in his businesses, which were part of a scheme to defraud them and personally enrich Erickson,” the press release reads.
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While Erickson’s charges appear largely unrelated to the conspiracy Butina was engaged in, there are clues in the indictment that some of the financial transactions may be linked to her.
The money laundering portion of the indictment notes a $20,472.09 payment from one of Erickson’s accounts to American University in 2017, when Butina was attending graduate school there.
Another $9,000 in payments were directed to a recipient whose initials are listed as “M.B.” in the indictment.
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Maria Butina’s boyfriend Paul Erickson indicted for wire fraud and money laundering https://t.co/Y8pUlF8uTl
— Katelyn Polantz (@kpolantz) February 7, 2019
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