U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort has resigned amid allegations he illegally lobbied for Ukraine’s former pro-Russian government.
Ukrainian journalist and politician Serhiy Leshchenko reported Friday that he had uncovered ledgers which reveal Ukraine’s Party of Regions made undisclosed payments to Manafort.
The cash payments, made between 2007 and 2012, were worth $12.7 million, The New York Times reported.
Manafort, who has previously offered consulting services to ousted former president Viktor Yanukovych, is accused of having secretly lobbied in Washington for Yanukovych’s pro-Russian ruling party alongside his deputy Rick Gates.
Leshchenko also claimed that U.S. television star Larry King received $225,000 from the party’s shadow assets, the money reportedly being paid in return for a 2011 interview with then Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov.
Manafort has denied that he had ever worked for the governments of Ukraine or Russia.
