July 24 (UPI) — A federal judge in Los Angeles freed wealthy private equity investor Thomas Barrack, an ally of former President Donald Trump, on $250 million bond Friday in his illegal lobbying case.
Prosecutors have criminally charged Barrack, who has been in jail since Tuesday, with illegally lobbying Trump when he was president on issues benefiting the United Arab Emirates.
He secured his release with $5 million in cash. The court in Los Angeles also ordered him to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet, banned him from transferring any money overseas, imposed a curfew and restricted his travel to Southern California and New York, CNN reported.
He’s scheduled to appear in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday.
Prosecutors argued that Barrack was a serious flight risk because of his wealth and connections in countries with no extradition agreements with the United States. Barrack owns a private plane and holds Lebanese citizenship.
Prosecutors said Barrack, who was chairman of Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee, and Matthew Grimes and Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi conspired to act as agents of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018.
Barrack also faces charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal officials.
“The defendants, using their positions of power and influence in a presidential election year, engaged in a conspiracy to illegally advance and promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates in this country, in flagrant violation of their obligation to notify the attorney general of their activities,” acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Kasulis said earlier this week.
Falcon Peak Acquisition, a New York-based special purpose acquisition company supported by Barrack, told the Securities and Exchange Commission in a letter that it’s withdrawing its registration statement with the SEC “because the company has elected to abandon” planned transactions.
