Fancy suits at center of ex-Trump campaign chief charges

[Zorro]

Source: AP

At $7,500 apiece, the handmade custom suits former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort wore were meant to dazzle and impress.

An indictment unsealed Monday detailing conspiracy and money laundering charges against him suggests they certainly caught the eye of special counsel Robert Mueller.

A luxury clothing store in New York is among 19 vendors Manafort paid some $12 million to between 2008 and 2014 from foreign bank accounts he didn't disclose, using offshore companies registered in countries such as Cyprus and the Grenadines to make the purchases, court papers allege.

Besides the suits, Manafort used the money to buy antique rugs and art, make payments on three Range Rovers and install an $112,825 audio-visual system in his Hamptons home — all without paying taxes on that income, the indictment charges.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/sns-bc-us--manafort-expensive-tastes-20171030-story.html

[BumRushDaShow]

1. Good Times

[mercuryblues]

2. money laundering

[jberryhill]

4. My god no. Not a $7500 suit. That requires money dry cleaning.

[mercuryblues]

8. lol

At over 12 million, I doubt he has worn the same suit twice. That is over 1,500 suits. One a day for over 4 years.

And we have veterans sleeping on the streets.

[jberryhill]

9. The alterations are extra

[milestogo]

24. I don't think he can wear the suits in prison though.

[jberryhill]

27. But in the admissions handbook, they said....

[highplainsdem]

18. Exactly. Same thing for the million or so he supposedly spent on antique rugs,

supposedly just the ones he could find in local stores. Saw an article already saying that expenditure didn't pass the smell test..

[jberryhill]

3. Fun fact about tax deduction for work clothing

If you have a blue collar occupation, you can deduct payments for clothing required for work, but that doesn’t apply to suits in white collar occupations.

https://www.1040.com/tax-guide/taxes-and-your-job/work-clothes-and-uniforms/

[PSPS]

5. Not exactly

For blue collar occupations, the clothes required for work are deductible only if they couldn't be considered ordinary street clothes. So a jeans + jeans jacket combo isn't deductible.

[jberryhill]

7. Come to think of it...

What’s not “ordinary street clothes” these days?

[Tess49]

10. Scrubs. n/t

[jberryhill]

12. I see people wearing those as regular wear

I mean, people go out in pajamas and slippers now. And I don’t mean confused old folks who went through the wrong door and got lost. I mean just people out in their pajamas and slippers.

And I don’t even shop at Wal-Mart.

[Tess49]

17. True, but I can deduct my scrubs on my taxes without having to defend the deduction.

My occupation, as listed on my taxes, is one where scrubs are typically worn, even required. So, it's not an iffy deduction.

[jberryhill]

19. Fox News should run with this

How the rich are being screwed by special tax loopholes for the working class.

[Tess49]

20. Yes, if they only knew..... n/t

[mercuryblues]

25. Haha funny you mentioned that

My kid asked me if I would give him a ride to school this morning.
I have a cold from hell, so I told him I wasn't going to get dressed much. Or maybe I should get dressed and go to the store to get milk after I dropped him off. Nah, I'll just drop you off and get milk later. Honest to God his reply was "Well go to Wal-Mart, you'll fit right in."

[Scruffy1]

22. And it only applies if you can get more by itemizing than by standard deduction.

i haven't itemized in 20 years. Itemizing is mainly for the rich, who can afford big mortgages for their mansions at taxpayer expense,

[Honeycombe8]

6. And YET, he would be one that would get a big tax cut from the GOP! nt

[riversedge]

11. Trump needs better suits. His are dumpy.

[not fooled]

13. Don't blame the suits

they can't overcome his lumpy lardass.

No offense to big folks. dump thinks he's a sex symbol and hence is a fair target.

[Cicada]

14. $1.5 million to male clothing stores

Million in New York, half a million in Beverly Hills

That’s amazing.

[forgotmylogin]

15. He's wearing a third of my yearly pay in one suit.

I know a lot of people who'd like to show him a tax cut.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

16. He can buy 200 suits at $7500 with the money he laundered through those stores

He probably sold the suits on to reclaim cash, sold some back to the store to reclaim cash.

He may have given some away, as favors or partial payments for stuff.

Like, "OK, Charlie, go to my favorite store and fit yourself out for $15,000 on my account. I'll call ahead to let them know you are coming."

[jberryhill]

21. Well, you cant fault a guy for being generous

[mercuryblues]

23. my guess is the stores don't exist n/t

[HopeAgain]

26. what pigs

obscene lifestyles and expenditures. The human inability to curb excess consumption, fueled by obtaining wealth by any means possible, will be the "extinction event" for our species.