FBI Has Questions About Michael Cohens Shady Taxicab Business

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Huffington Post

04/10/2018 08:38 pm ET
The president’s attorney has been linked to some of the most notorious owners in the industry.

By Molly Redden

The FBI raid on lawyer Michael Cohen was reportedly prompted by a business entanglement that could sink his career ― but investigators are also seeking information about Cohen’s involvement in the New York City taxi business where he got his start, sources told CNN.

Since President Donald Trump’s personal attorney first entered the taxi business in the mid-1990s, his modest fleet has linked him to some of the most notorious owners in the industry. According to one recent estimate that Cohen himself disputes, he owns 34 medallions. Most are operated by Evgeny Freidman ― the “taxi king” of New York City until last spring, when the city stripped Friedman of his ability to hold a license. Freidman was arrested in June for an unpaid state tax bill totaling $5 million.

Cohen’s checkered business partnerships stretch back to the very beginning of his taxi ventures. According to documents HuffPost viewed, Cohen inherited part of his taxi empire from his wife’s parents. His father-in-law, Fima Shusterman, became embroiled in a major industry scandal, pleading guilty in 1993 to structuring money transactions to get around legal reporting requirements. Shusterman’s crime was endorsing a $38,000 check signed by Harold Wapnick, a tax preparer with a widespread reputation for helping taxi drivers avoid taxes. Wapnick was later convicted of tax evasion.

In the years following, Cohen joined or assumed ownership of five companies his in-laws had formed or financed to purchase taxicab medallions. And his alliances with questionable business partners continued as all five companies placed some of their medallions under “taxi king” Friedman’s management.



Read more: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/michael-cohen-taxis-trump_us_5acd29fde4b06a6aac8cb374

[sandensea]

1. Sounds like money laundering

Or as Cheeto would put it: "being smart."

[underpants]

7. Sounds like the whole business is

That and tax evasion.

[sandensea]

11. The only things they're good at, the miscreants.

Unfortunately, those are the two activities most rewarded in today's world.

[wasupaloopa]

2. Is a taxi cab medallion like a liquor license or something?

[Princess Turandot]

3. Yes..

But unlike liquor licenses, there's a finite number of medallions in circulation.

[underpants]

6. Very hard to come by and valuable

as I understand it

[rickford66]

8. The number is limited by city law. This drives up the selling price.

[EarthFirst]

16. Indeed.

A medallion can cost anywhere from $175,000 pushing close to a million dollars:

https://nycitycab.com/Business/TaxiMedallionList.aspx

[BigmanPigman]

4. These business people are so corrupt.

I am surprised Russian money wasn't involved. People keep saying they feel badly for Cohen's family. I don't...they're crooks just like the rest.

[FakeNoose]

10. Well there was mob money before there was Russian money

Cohen has been tight with the mob for probably his whole career. This is nothing new - in the NY taxi business for 25 years. And just now they're looking at his tax returns? Sheesh!

[wishstar]

15. Cohen's business buddy, the taxi king Evgeny "Gene" Friedman was born in Russia

As of this report from last August, Cohen owes NY taxes;

"President Trump's high-profile personal attorney owes nearly $40,000 in unpaid state taxes earmarked for the MTA, state records show.
Michael Cohen and his wife, Laura, owe $37,434 for unpaid taxi taxes, according to seven warrants filed by the state Department of Taxation.

Riders fork over an extra 50 cents on each taxi ride that medallion managers are obligated to give to the state to help finance MTA operations.

The tax warrants, filed between April and June, range from $1,078 against N.Y. Funky Taxi Corp. to $10,166 against Martha Cab Corp.
The 50-year-old lawyer says his 16 taxi companies are managed by associates tied to the “Taxi King,” Evgeny Friedman, according to a report in the Real Deal."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-personal-lawyer-owes-40g-unpaid-taxi-taxes-article-1.3392192

[FakeNoose]

18. I was just reading the Rolling Stone article about this

Cohen's family and his wife's family are all wrapped up in this Russian mafia connection. Apparently there's been a whole group of them on Long Island for the last 50 years or so. Lots of money laundering and cash businesses (like the taxicabs) where the profits were invested in Trump properties.

According to this Rolling Stone article, Cohen was involved in all of this long before he met Trump.
Lock him up!

Link: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/michael-cohens-ties-to-russia-crime-and-trump-w518941

[George II]

5. In NYC, one person or partners can own dozens of medallion cabs, but they break them up

into small companies, each with only four or five cabs. That way if there is a serious accident or liability and the company gets sued, all they stand to lose is the assets of that one individual company. All the others are independent of the liable company even if owned by the same person, so they can continue to operate without any liabilities.

It's been going on for decades. And as the FBI suspects, that give the owners a great opportunity to evade taxes.

[bucolic_frolic]

9. You begin to see how

these upstanding citizens have got their fingers into everything and make people pay and pay while not even paying taxes.

The only solution is to shut off their money.

I had an insurer who raised rates year after year. I drove less and less, I dropped collision, I raised deductibles, the price of insurance went up and up. I finally questioned it and the agent seemed none too pleased. Yeah, I wonder why. Now I have a regional mutual company and rates are steady, guaranteed in some cases, and I pay about 1/3 less than that friendly sounding company that was really a front for a big European multi-national.

Question everything, folks. Better deals can sometimes be found.

[underpants]

12. Mr. Bigshot Trump dealmaker didn't have $130k and took out a home equity loan to pay Stormy?

From a link in the Huff Po article

I must have missed this a month ago

Michael Cohen says he used his own home equity line for Stormy Daniels payment
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/09/politics/michael-cohen-trump-organization-email-stormy-daniels/index.html

[True Blue American]

19. If you notice the Media never mentions that about borrowing from his home equity.

I heard that when it first came out and Stormy’s Attorney, Avonotto.sp.? I can not keep up with these names, but he said on Ari Melber there were 3 Trip wires.

Cohen lied to his bank about what the money was for. Lied to his bank about why he set up and LLC. Lied to his bank about why the money was paid out. Money laundering?

I think Prosecuters in New York have a huge list against Cohen.

[underpants]

21. Good points. Hold on.

DU thread
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=10476309

He is Russian Mafia basically

Please, if you haven't, give that a read.

[True Blue American]

22. Thank you

[Turbineguy]

13. Oh dear.

You mean to tell me this wasn't about trump? Every thing in this country is supposed to be about trump. He has the highest ratings!

Trump really stepped into this one.

[lostnfound]

14. When I first moved to Chicago 6 years ago, was told the cabs almost all Russian mob owned. Nt

[Judi Lynn]

17. Robert Mueller Is Asking About This Little-Known Chapter Of Michael Cohens New York Life

The raid on President Trump’s personal lawyer may have involved a surprising period in Cohen’s life. The special counsel has been asking questions about it, and the controversial businesspeople who were his partners at the time.

Posted on April 10, 2018, at 4:57 p.m.
By Anthony Cormier

Monday’s FBI raid on President Trump's longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen was reportedly an attempt to seek information on not just his dealings on behalf of the president, but also a more surprising topic: Cohen’s history as a New York City cab owner.

Cohen’s foray into the taxi business is a little-known but formative chapter in his life, during which the lawyer from Long Island forged some of the core relationships, and honed some of the sharp-elbowed tactics, that would define his wide-ranging business career.

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has previously sought information about many aspects of Cohen’s professional life. Investigators have asked about a failed Ukrainian ethanol company he co-owned, which sought a deal with a powerful politician, Viktor Topolov, whose associates were members of the Russian and Ukrainian underworld. Closer to home, questions have arisen about Cohen’s work with Symon Garber and Evgeny Freidman, two Soviet-born New York taxi barons who managed his fleet, two sources with knowledge of the special counsel’s inquiry told BuzzFeed News.

There is no indication that Mueller’s team is investigating Garber or Freidman for wrongdoing. One witness who was asked about them was asked about a total of 40 people or companies with ties to Cohen.

More:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/anthonycormier/michael-cohen-taxi-business?utm_term=.txaK18pZr#.vvgqr9MAl

[True Blue American]

20. New York Prosecuters have made it clear all along they are waiting in the wings

With charges if this bunch manages to pardon and weasel out of Fed Charges.

Trump has made so many enemies among Law Enforcement there is no way they will escape the State..

Anyone remember this History? Warren died of a heart attack.

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/warren-g-harding

BTW, Another Ohio Senator just resigned.