The bombshell revelations, which have been confirmed by The Daily Beast, caught companies and the president's team off guard. Daniels claims she was paid $US130,000 by Cohen to stay quiet about a sexual encounter with Trump. Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's personal attorney . Credit:AP Avenatti said Cohen submitted false information to First Republic Bank when opening a new account in October 2016. Within 75 days, Avenatti said, Viktor Vekselberg -- a Russian oligarch with links to Russian President Vladimir Putin -- "caused substantial funds to be deposited into the bank account, from which Cohen made the payment" to Daniels. Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg Credit:AP

Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team has questioned Vekselberg about the payments into Cohen's account, CNN reported Tuesday. According to a tweet posted by a reporter, an attorney for Cohen said he wouldn't discuss the $US500,000. "I understand the shorthand you're using, but it wasn't a payment," the attorney, Steve Ryan, told Natasha Bertrand of the Atlantic. Attempts were unsuccessful to reach Columbus Nova, the US investment vehicle for Vekselberg's Renova Group that Avenatti says made the payment. First Republic declined to comment. Reached by telephone half an hour after Avenatti posted the information, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said he doubted the report's veracity. Stormy Daniels, pictured with her lawyer Michael Avenatti Credit:AP

"I have no idea how he would know that. I have no reason to believe that anything he says is true," Giuliani said. "I consider him now sort of a guy who books for 'Saturday Night Live.' The guy is a pretty unsuccessful lawyer -- can't remember a case he's ever had that meant anything -- and I think he's desperate for money." Avenatti disclosed his information on Twitter without warning. "Mr Trump and Mr Cohen have a lot of explaining to do," he wrote, adding a link to a site where the public could view a summary of his findings. It's unclear whether Avenatti obtained bank information, if it's accurate, as part of litigation involving Trump, Cohen and Clifford over the non-disclosure agreement Cohen negotiated. Separately, federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating the payment and Cohen's broader business practices. Avenatti named three companies, besides Columbus Nova, that he said transferred money into the account at First Republic. Through January 2018, he said, Cohen used the account for what Avenatti called suspicious transactions totaling $US4.43 million. The other companies were Novartis AG, AT&T and Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. The account belonged to Essential Solutions, a Delaware LLC that was established by Cohen and has been previously identified as the source of the hush payment to Clifford.

According to Avenatti, Novartis made four payments of $US99,980 into the account in late 2017 and early 2018. Following the payments, totaling just under $US400,000, Trump had a dinner meeting with Novartis's incoming CEO ahead of a World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, Avenatti said. A Novartis spokesman said he was looking into the issue. Avenatti cites four payments from AT&T, of $US50,000 apiece, without further explanation. AT&T declined to comment on the report. Separately, Avenatti cited a single payment of $US150,000 from Korea Aerospace. Representatives for the company couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Although Avenatti didn't offer an explanation for all the payments or the intended purposes of the funds, he also drew attention to what appeared to be Cohen's personal accounts. The longtime Trump lawyer opened two accounts at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC and deposited three checks totalling just over $US1 million that came from the Essential Consulting account, Avenatti said.

Avenatti said the transactions last summer appeared to have no "legitimate business purpose." Cohen has noted in court that Trump was one of three legal clients he had last year, but that he had 10 other clients for whom he did unspecified business work. Last month, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Russians including Vekselberg and his Renova Group that were intended to punish Russia for actions in Crimea, Ukraine and Syria, and for attempts to subvert Western democracies. Vekselberg, who founded Renova in 1990 and accumulated interests in Russia's oil, gas and aluminum industries, is Russia's fifth-richest person with a net worth of $US15.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Reuters, Bloomberg