Donald Trump ally Tom Barrack secures USD 250 million bail deal to get out of prison

Former President Donald Trump's ally Tom Barrack who was charged with illegal foreign lobbying on behalf of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) struck a USD 250 million bail deal to get out of the jail.

A federal magistrate judge on Friday (local time) released Barrack, from jail pending trial, freeing him on a bail package that includes a USD 250 million bond secured by USD 5 million in cash, reported CNN.

The judge also ordered Barrack to wear a GPS location monitoring bracelet, barred him from transferring any funds overseas and restricted his travel to parts of Southern California and New York. He will have a curfew to be determined by pretrial services.

He must appear in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday, where he will be arraigned. A spokesman has said he intends to plead not guilty, reported CNN.

Barrack and co-defendant Matthew Grimes were released from custody later Friday, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

The judge on Friday had also ordered Grimes released on a USD 5 million bond. Grimes will be subject to GPS location monitoring with an electronic bracelet and travel restriction.

Barrack was arrested Tuesday in Los Angeles, where he had an initial appearance in front of US Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue. He had been in custody since then.

Justice Department noted that his co-defendant in the case, Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, fled the United States three days after he was interviewed by the FBI in 2018. Alshahhi hasn't returned to the United States, and he remains at large, reported CNN.

The court filings also alleged that Barrack had connections to senior leaders in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia -- both countries without extradition treaties with the United States.

That created the potential, prosecutors said, that Barrack could have "the assistance" of those countries' "highest leaders" if he were able to flee to those countries via his private aircraft.

In discussions in the days following Barrack's detention, his legal team focused on trying to keep their 74-year-old billionaire client off of "Con Air," the famed US Marshals Service plane for transporting certain defendants who are in government custody, according to people familiar with the matter.

(ANI)

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