Two associates of Rudy Giuliani pleaded not guilty to charges that they conspired to launder foreign campaign contributions into U.S. elections, in a case that has heightened scrutiny of Giuliani’s foreign business ties and his work as personal lawyer to President Donald Trump.
The defendants, Igor Fruman and Lev Parnas, entered their pleas Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken in Manhattan federal court. They were arrested two weeks ago at Dulles International Airport near Washington as they sought to leave the country with one-way plane tickets.
The pair were working with Giuliani in urging the Ukrainian government to investigate one of Trump’s top Democratic rivals, Joe Biden, over his son’s business interests there.
Prosecutors have said they have records of financial transactions from more than 50 bank accounts and correspondence from 10 email addresses, suggesting the scope of the investigation is broader than Parnas, Fruman and two other co-defendants, David Correia and Andrey Kukushkin.
Correia and Kukushkin have also pleaded not guilty. Authorities have said the investigation is continuing.Parnas and Fruman figure into an episode now under scrutiny by congressional investigators as part of the impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump, when he removed the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch.
Prosecutors say the pair, working at the behest of unnamed Ukrainian officials, raised funds for then-U.S. Representative Pete Sessions of Texas, while seeking -- and receiving -- his help in advocating for the removal of Yovanovitch.
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