According to recent reporting from The Guardian, prosecutors with the US federal government have formally launched an investigation into ex-President Donald Trump’s social media company for possible money laundering involving Russian entities.
That same bombshell report also confirms that Donald Trump’s eldest son and namesake, Don Jr., has been implicated in that investigation in connection to his personal role in approving the two sketchy loans with ties to the Kremlin.
Guardian’s explosive reporting revealed that Trump Media, the parent company and owner of the scandal-ridden former president’s Truth Social media platform, first found itself under investigation by federal authorities in New York in connection to the media company’s potential impending merger with a blank-check company called Digital World. This possible merger inspired federal investigators to begin scrutinizing two different loans, worth $8 million combined, that had been wired to the Trump Media company, through the Caribbean, by two entities who have strong links and ties to the Kremlin.
On Dec. 24, 2021, outside counsel for Trump Media, John Haley, sent an email to Don Jr., that has been received by the publication, reading, “Just want to keep you in the loop — no guaranty that these will get signed and funded, but we remain hopeful.”
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The eldest Trump son responded, “Thanks john much appreciated. d.”
Junior infamously joined the Trump Media company board, joining the likes of Trump ally and conspiracy theorist Kash Patel and former Republican congressman turned CEO of the Trump company, Devin Nunes.
The publication obtained financial records that show Trump Media received the first payment of $2 million in December of 2021, at a time when the Truth Social parent company was teetering on the brink of collapse and ruin. At the time, the impending merger between Trump Media and Digital World was halted due to an inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission. However, Chief Executive of Digital World, Patrick Orlando, was able to circumvent that inquiry and subsequent merger delay by wiring the loan to Trump Media through Paxum Bank registered in Dominica.
The Guardian reports:
The wire transfer identified Paxum Bank as the beneficial owner, although the promissory note identified an entity called ES Family Trust as the lender. Two months later, an unexpected second $6 million payment arrived in Trump Media’s account from ES Family Trust, the transfer receipt showed.”
Will Wilkerson, the former co-founder of Trump Media turned whistleblower, has since alleged that Orlando repeatedly refused to provide any details regarding the true identity of the lenders or the origin of the money involved in the suspicious loan. Wilkerson noted that an individual by the name of Angel Pacheco was apparently listed simultaneously as both a trustee of ES Family Trust and a director of Paxum Bank.
Paxum Bank is notorious for its past services to the adult entertainment industry.
The first loan of $2 million was sourced in December of 2021, with a second $6 million installment showing up allegedly unexpectedly just two short months later in Trump Media’s account from ES Family Trust.
At the time of the suspicious loans, Donald Trump was a chairman of the Trump Media company — a position he conveniently stepped down from around the time the SEC began to snoop around. Wilkerson has noted that while Trump was in the position at the time of the loans, it is unclear as to whether he was aware personally aware of the origins of the money, as Trump had a tendency to be avoidant of day-to-day operations within the media company that quite literally bears his name.
It seems the only thing that did pique the ex-president’s attention with regard to the potential merger deal was the 90 percent of the company shares he possessed, without putting any of his own financial skin into the game — though, one source did claim that Trump invested some of his personal money into Digital World, meaning he would have been able to cash out two times over, had the merger deal not fallen through.
Read the full report from The Guardian here.
Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore, under Creative Commons license 2.0
