ODESA, Ukraine – While you’re helping out a corrupt politician, why not try to make a little (or a lot) of extra cash on the side?That’s the opportunity apparently presented in 2008 to Paul Manafort, former adviser to overthrown President Viktor Yanukovych and current campaign manager to Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate for U.S. president.

The story begins in March 2007, when Manafort and other members of his political team in Ukraine set up a private equity fund with Russian money with the apparent aim of establishing a business in Ukraine.