A former associate of Rudolph Giuliani is expected to plead guilty in a U.S. campaign finance case, potentially increasing legal pressure on the onetime lawyer for former U.S. President Donald Trump.
A "change of plea" hearing for Igor Fruman, which normally signals a forthcoming guilty plea, is scheduled for Wednesday in federal court in Manhattan, court records on Monday showed.
Prosecutors accused the Belarus-born Fruman and Ukraine-born businessman Lev Parnas of concealing an illegal $325,000 donation they made to support Trump's 2020 re-election campaign.
They and another defendant, Andrey Kukushkin, were also charged with illegally using donations to U.S. politicians from a Russian businessman to help them obtain licenses for a legal, recreational marijuana business.
All three defendants were charged in October 2019, and pleaded not guilty to an amended indictment last November.
Their lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Giuliani and his lawyer did not immediately respond to similar requests.
Fruman's and Parnas' case has drawn added attention because of their work with Giuliani on matters related to Ukraine.
Giuliani began representing Trump, a fellow Republican, in April 2018 as then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller probed Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Giuliani enlisted Fruman and Parnas to help dig up damaging information about then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. Prosecutors they also assisted in an effort to remove then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
Prosecutors are also examining Giuliani's dealings in Ukraine, including whether he violated lobbying laws by acting as an unregistered foreign agent while working for Trump.
Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and Time magazine's 2001 "Person of the Year," has not been charged and has denied criminal wrongdoing.
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