Last week, prosecutors told the court they'd received new evidence that Paul Manafor (pictured) took part in "a series of bank frauds and bank fraud conspiracies" in connection with a loan he sought in 2016. | Matt Rourke/AP Photo New charges filed in Manafort-Gates case The notice of sealed charges comes after prosecutors accused the former Trump campaign chairman of bank fraud.

New charges have been filed in special counsel Robert Mueller's criminal case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and aide Rick Gates, but the charges were put under seal by the court, obscuring the nature and import of the development.

The new charging document filed in federal court in Washington could be a superseding indictment, adding new charges or even new defendants to the charges filed against Manafort and Gates last October. The pair were accused of money laundering and failing to register as foreign agents for their work related to Ukraine, among other crimes.


There was no immediate indication of new charges in the court's online docket, but a public, paper docket book kept in the clerk's office at U.S. District Court in Washington contained an entry showing sealed charges filed recently under the docket number for the Manafort-Gates case. The entry was undated, but the sequence suggests the charges were filed Friday or later.

Last week, prosecutors told the court they'd received new evidence that Manafort took part in "a series of bank frauds and bank fraud conspiracies" in connection with a loan he sought in 2016. Mueller's team said Manafort obtained the loan using “doctored profit and loss statements” that overstated "by millions of dollars" the income of his consulting business.

The bank fraud allegations were disclosed in a bail-related court filing made public on Friday that made no indication of what action, if any, Mueller's team planned to take over the alleged fraud.

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Manafort and Gates have pleaded not guilty. Their attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

During a court hearing on Feb. 14, prosecutors had a private exchange with Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is handling the case against Manafort and Gates. At the same session, she expressed frustration with delays in the case, but did not set a trial date.

There have also been persistent media reports in recent weeks that Gates is negotiating with Mueller's office about a potential plea deal. That could involve filing a new charge or charges in the case, but doing so would not be necessary if he agreed to plead guilty to one of the counts in the indictment returned last year.

A spokesman for Mueller's office had no comment on the new charging document, first reported by The Washington Post.

In the filing unsealed last Friday, prosecutors said Manafort made “a series of false and fraudulent representations” to Federal Savings Bank, a Chicago-based financial institution that gave a Manafort-linked firm a $9.5 million loan in December 2016.

The bank issued a statement Wednesday disputing a report that Manafort was given the loan after promising a top bank official a White House job.

“The Federal Savings Bank is aware of recent press reports attributed to unnamed ‘sources’ implying that Paul Manafort obtained loans in exchange for a promise of a position in the Trump Administration. Those reports are simply not true,” the bank’s statement said.

However, the bank’s statement appeared to confirm that it has come under some scrutiny by Mueller’s office.

“The Federal Savings Bank has been fully cooperating with the special counsel throughout his investigation and will continue to do so,” a Bank spokeswoman said.