Federal investigators examining whether President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen committed bank and tax fraud are looking at more than $20 million in loans obtained for his and his family’s taxi companies, The New York Times reported Sunday night, citing people familiar with the matter.
Authorities are also looking into whether Cohen broke campaign finance or other laws in coordinating hush money for women who alleged that they had affairs with Trump. The inquiry is at the end stage, and prosecutors are considering filing charges by the end of this month, two of the people told the newspaper.
Federal prosecutors in New York who have been investigating Cohen have been mindful of the election cycle when weighing when to charge him, a person familiar with the matter told CNN; as a result, they have considered bringing charges either before September or waiting to do so until after the midterm elections.
Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, declined to comment when contacted by CNN.
According to the Times, investigators are trying to determine whether Cohen misrepresented the value of his assets to obtain the loans from two financial institutions that have catered to the taxi industry. They are also scrutinizing whether he failed to properly report his income from taxi medallions to the Internal Revenue Service, the Times reported.
CNN previously reported that Cohen is under investigation for possible bank and tax fraud, that his taxi medallions are a focus of the investigation, and that one of the banks that made the loans was Sterling National Bank. The Times, citing financial records and people with knowledge of the matter, reported that the other financial institution is the Melrose Credit Union.
