Two business associates of Trump’s personal lawyer Giuliani have been arrested on campaign finance charges

Two business associates of President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani were arrested and are in custody Thursday, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan said.

The two men, who helped Giuliani investigate former vice president Joe Biden, were arrested Wednesday night in Virginia and charged with campaign finance violations, according to a person familiar with the charges. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman have been under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan and are expected to appear in federal court in Virginia later on Thursday.

According to the indictment, Parnas, Fruman and other defendants “conspired to circumvent the federal laws against foreign influence by engaging in a scheme to funnel foreign money to candidates for federal and state office so that the defendants could by potential influence with the candidates, campaigns, and the candidates’ governments.”

An attorney for the two men, John Dowd, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Parnas and Fruman have little history of political involvement but emerged suddenly in a circle of elite Trump donors after Parnas gave $50,000 to support Trump’s election in 2016 and a pro-Trump super PAC reported receiving $325,000 last year from a company the two men incorporated. House committees have asked them to turn over all documents and communications related to the donations and have sought depositions from both men.

Since late 2018, the two Florida-based business executives have been assisting Giuliani’s push to get Ukrainian officials to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his son, as well as Giuliani’s claim that Democrats conspired with Ukrainians in the 2016 campaign. They have also been pursuing opportunities in Ukraine for a new liquefied-natural-gas venture.