Thomas Barrack, a close ally of former US president Donald Trump, was on Tuesday arrested for not disclosing his lobbying on behalf of a foreign government. Barrack was one of Trump’s top fundraisers.

On Tuesday, the Justice Department released an indictment accusing the three suspects. The indictment, which was unsealed in New York, accused the 74-year-old Barrack of failing to register as agents of the United Arab Emirates as they attempted to influence Trump on foreign policy during the presidential campaign.

“The defendants repeatedly capitalized on Barrack’s friendships and access to a candidate who was eventually elected president… to advance the policy goals of a foreign government without disclosing their true allegiances,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Mark Lesko said in a statement, according to AFP inputs.

Barrack, a private equity investor, was chairman of Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee.

Barrack is charged in a seven-count indictment with acting as an agent of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018. He is also charged with obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal law enforcement agents.

The 74-year-old, who is the founder and executive chairman of publicly traded REIT (CLNY) Colony Capital Inc, was a senior adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign.

ALSO READ | Only 51% of Americans believe that Joe Biden’s victory was legitimate: Poll

According to the indictment, acquired by CNN, Barrack and two other men charged Tuesday — Matthew Grimes of Aspen, Colorado, and Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, a UAE national – utilised Barrack’s status as a senior outside adviser to then-president Donald Trump to “advance the interests of and provide intelligence to the UAE while simultaneously failing to notify the Attorney General that their actions were taken at the direction of senior UAE officials.

According to the allegations, the 74-year-old had direct and indirect communication with UAE top leadership, and he referred to Alshahhi as the UAE’s “secret weapon” for promoting the country’s foreign policy agenda in the United States.

Barrack and Grimes are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles, according to the Justice Department, while Alshahhi departed the United States three days after being interrogated by federal investigators in April 2018 and hasn’t returned.