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By Alexandria criminal defense attorney Karin Riley Porter with Price Benowitz, LLP.

Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, is accused of laundering over $30 million. Money laundering is charged when an individual takes money from activities which are illegal and redistributes it to legal activities, thereby hiding the true source of the income with the purpose of avoiding taxes or seizure from the government.

This money allegedly was laundered through offshore bank accounts associated with the work that he did internationally in Ukraine. Manafort argued in federal court in Washington last month that the money laundering charge, one of two separate indictments that he is facing, should be dismissed.

He maintains that lobbying for a foreign government is not illegal and not registering as a foreign agent does not make funds that were generated from that activity illegal.

However, in a motion filed on April 4, Robert Mueller’s prosecutors argued that felonies covered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, can initiate charges of money laundering.

FARA states that anyone acting as agents of foreign entities must disclose their relationship and activities with that entity. Mueller’s position is that Manafort controlled funds in his lobbying capacity and he was not properly registered, and that may have been the intent of the engagement with the foreign entity.

“Money laundering charges are complex and they have serious consequences, including up to 35 years of jail time,” said Karin Riley Porter, a federal crimes attorney with Price Benowitz, LLP. “Manafort’s defense must include an understanding of FARA as well as the underlying offenses he may be charged with. Money laundering is commonly associated with criminal organizations as well as illegal wire transfers and other fraud. Tracing the source of the money under investigation will lead to interesting revelations about the nature of Manafort’s work.”

The money laundering trial will begin on September 17.

Manafort’s second indictment, in Alexandria, Virginia, involves bank and tax fraud, and failure to report overseas bank accounts. That trial will begin on July 10.

If convicted, Manafort could possibly spend the rest of his life in jail.

By Memphis employment lawyer Jon Street of The Employment Law Group.

The Supreme Court issued a ruling late in May regarding the use of clauses in employment contracts that would prevent workers from joining together to file a class action lawsuit against their employer. The vote passed by a count of 5-4 and the ruling could very well affect 25 million employment contracts.

Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote for the majority, saying that if employees were permitted to join together to file claims, “the virtues Congress originally saw in arbitration, its speed and simplicity and inexpensiveness, would be shorn away and arbitration would wind up looking like the litigation it was meant to displace.”

Writing for the dissenting justices was Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In her writing, Justice Ginsburg said that the decision will cause “huge under-enforcement of federal and state statutes designed to advance the well-being of vulnerable workers.”

The others who voted in the majority included Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.

A brief in support of the employees was submitted by the Obama Administration, representing the National Labor Relations Board. The Trump Administration submitted the brief on behalf of the employers. The general counsel for the labor board argued in favor of the employees.

There were three separate cases that were resolved when the Supreme Court issued its ruling in May. Those cases involved claims that companies were underpaying their employees. The employment contracts for the workers stated that these disputes needed to be solved using arbitration instead of in the court system. The contracts also noted that the employees were to file their cases individually.

“Employment law issues include wage and hour, workers’ compensation, workplace discrimination and various other issues,” Jon Street, of The Employment Law Group, said. “Understanding the laws governing employment is an important part of being in the professional world.”

In all three of the cases that were ruled on by the Supreme Court in May the employees said that the National Labor Relations Act is a law that protects their rights to enter concerted activities and that it bans class waivers. This argument was accepted by federal appeals courts in San Francisco and Chicago but was rejected by a federal appeals court in New Orleans.