The Manaforts Are Exactly Why People Are So Critical of Airbnb
Russia Investigations: Connecting the Dots
The indictment of Paul Manafort came with the interesting footnote that President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman operated a high-priced Airbnb in downtown Manhattan. But the Manafort property rental business, which was allegedly used to launder money, extended well beyond a single building, according to a year-old lawsuit: His daughter, Jessica Manafort, and her husband set up a company to sublet several other apartments nearby, in what appears to be the kind of black-market operation Airbnb has come under criticism for enabling.
Jessica Manafort and her husband, Jeffrey Yohai, earned about $30,000 a month from subletting at least four other Manhattan apartments, according to a November 2016 lawsuit by their landlord. They generated some of that income by listing multiple units on Airbnb and other short-term property rental websites.