Just last week, on August 16, 2017, publicly filed documents appeared on New York City’s Automated City Register Information System (ACRIS) showing that an entity connected to Paul Manafort has borrowed $1,025,000 against a property located at 123 Baxter Street in Lower Manhattan.
It’s not just any entity, either. Jesand, LLC is the first entity to date that has been linked to both (i) borrowing from offshore entities and (ii) domestic real estate purchases.
The Baxter Street property may have been the only property in Manafort’s real estate portfolio that was not previously encumbered by a mortgage loan. The lender is a Nevada-based limited liability company that appears to be a special purpose vehicle formed just before the loan was made.
The below timeline spells out the order of events:
Timeline and Documents
October 9, 2007: Jesand, LLC is formed as a Delaware limited liability Company (link).
November 18, 2007: Jesand, LLC and Andrea Manafort purchase 123 Baxter Street, Apt. 5D, New York, NY for $2,545,625 (link).
March 6, 2012: Jesand, LLC enters into a loan facility with Lucicle Consultants Limited, a Cypriot entity, pursuant to which Lucicle Consultants Limited agrees to loan $10,000,000 to Jesand, LLC (link).
July 19, 2017: The New York Times publishes the Cyprus records story showing, among other things, that Jesand, LLC borrowed $10,000,000 from Lucicle Consultants Limited, a Cypriot entity (link).
July 26, 2017: The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducts a pre-dawn raid of Manafort’s condo in Alexandria, VA (link).
August 2, 2017: Woodlawn, LLC is formed as a Nevada limited liability Company (link).
August 7, 2017: Jesand, LLC borrows $1,025,000 from Woodlawn, LLC, secured on 123 Baxter Street, Apt. 5D (link).
August 10, 2017: Manafort parts ways with his lawyer, Reginald Brown of Wilmer Hale and engages Kevin Downing of Miller & Chevalier (link; link).