As the federal investigation into his financial and business dealings continues, Michael Cohen is facing more than $185,000 in new state warrants for unpaid taxes on his taxi businesses.
The new round of warrants means Cohen owes a total of $282,000 to New York State in taxes for 16 of his taxi-medallion holding companies, Bloomberg reported. The finances of the president’s personal attorney became of particular interest following news that he paid Stephanie Clifford, a.k.a. porn star Stormy Daniels, $130,000 to keep her from speaking about her alleged affair with President Trump. Cohen has said that he drew on a home equity loan to make the payment.
In February, The Real Deal identified 17 LLCs owned by Cohen that held a total of 34 medallions. At the time, Cohen indicated that he controlled more companies. The medallions were previously managed by “taxi king” Gene Freidman, who is now barred from managing medallions in the city due, in part, to allegations that he didn’t pay $5 million in state taxes.
Last week, Judge Kimba Wood selected Barbara Jones as the “special master” to review records seized in connection to the ongoing investigation into Cohen. [Bloomberg] — Kathryn Brenzel