Dustin Hoffman and his son Jacob invested $3 million in an ill-fated spec house project headed by Jeffrey Yohai, the son-in-law of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Hoffmans made the investment in June 2015 through an entity called DJ Blue Jay Way. No record shows that they have been repaid, the Times said.
Yohai filed for bankruptcy protection for the Bird Streets property and three others in December, on the heels of a lawsuit that accused him of running a Ponzi scheme in New York. The bankruptcy filing stayed a trustee’s sale that was scheduled for November.
Yohai, who planned to replace an existing home on the site with a new $30 million mansion, withdrew the Hoffmans’ money without their “prior knowledge or approval,” despite a guarantee that he would not spend certain funds without their permission, according to the bankruptcy documents .
Meanwhile, Manafort is now the subject of an FBI investigation on whether any of his income came from corrupt sources behind pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians. He’s a key player in the investigation of Trump associates suspected of knowing or colluding in Russia’s alleged meddling in the November presidential election. [LAT] — Cathaleen Chen