Lev Parnas, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani, has been convicted by a New York jury on charges of making illegal campaign contributions to influence US politicians and advance his business interests.

Parnas has been on trial for more than two weeks as prosecutors accused him of using other people’s money to pose as a powerful political broker and cosy up to some of the nation’s star Republican political figures, according to Associated Press inputs.

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According to one aspect of the lawsuit, Parnas and an accomplice made unlawful payments to Republican political groups in 2018 through a corporate entity, including a $325,000 donation to America First Action, a super PAC supporting former President Donald Trump.

Another section said he utilised the money of a Russian financer, Andrey Muraviev, to make political payments to American politicians, presumably in favour of a legalised recreational marijuana industry.

Parnas was found guilty on all charges.

Parnas, 49, a Russian-born Florida businessman, stated through his lawyer that the Russian’s money was never utilised for political donations.

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Andrey Kukushkin, a Ukrainian-born investor who was a co-defendant in the case, was found guilty of being a part of the scheme to utilise Muraviev’s money for political donations. He had also stated that he had committed no misconduct.

The case drew attention because Parnas and a former co-defendant, Igor Fruman, were heavily involved in Giuliani’s efforts to get Ukrainian officials to probe Joe Biden’s son during Biden’s presidential campaign.

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Giuliani is still being investigated by the FBI to see if his meetings with Ukrainian officials required him to register as a foreign agent, although he isn’t suspected of making illegal campaign donations.

Although a photograph of Parnas with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, was one of the first exhibits shown to jurors during closing arguments, and a video of Giuliani with Parnas was among the exhibit’s jurors could view during deliberations, Giuliani and Trump were barely mentioned during the trial.

With inputs from the Associated Press