The unknown man, described as having a shaved head and a tattoo on his right forearm, was spotted on camera in the vicinity of David Fallarino's New York home, police said. NYPD officials confirmed to CNN on Tuesday that Fallarino had reported a burglary at his home earlier that morning.
Fallarino told NYPD detectives he was sleeping when he heard the front door of his apartment slam shut at about 1:20 a.m. He got up and noticed an open terrace door that he thought he had closed and saw a crowbar on the terrace floor, he told police. He also noticed a bottle had been taken out of the wine cabinet.
Fallarino then discovered that a briefcase had been taken, along with an iPad and a pair of sneakers he said had been in his living room, according to police. He later told investigators he had left the terrace door open when he went to sleep, the police said. The missing items were valued at $2,050, according to the NYPD, and the incident is under investigation.
The burglary was the second within hours, police said. The same man is also wanted for questioning in the burglary of an apartment on West 56th Street and 8th Avenue on Monday night, taking a skateboard, cellphone and laptop before being confronted and chased by residents, police said.
Federal prosecutors previously said Fallarino had helped in Manafort's bank fraud schemes, but he was not charged in the case in which Manafort was convicted of falsifying documents related to a 2016 Citizens Bank loan worth $3.4 million.
Prosecutors said Fallarino was a key figure Manafort communicated with as the former Trump campaign chairman sought loans from Citizens Bank and lied to the bank to get better rates.
Fallarino did not testify at Manafort's Virginia trial, which the defense attacked because lower-level Citizens Bank employees testified in the case. Manafort accountant Cindy Laporta, who was granted immunity and admitted her role as a conspirator, testified in the case about falsifying documents so the bank would approve Manafort's loan applications.
At one point, while Manafort and others sought to make his assets look better than they were by fudging his debt amounts, according to the prosecutors, Fallarino sent this email, according to the evidence presented at the trial:
"Can you write a letter for the 1.5 million loan has been forgiven and give any color possible?"
At another point in the trial, prosecutors showed the jury an email in which Fallarino had written to Manafort that they would "have to get creative in terms of income."
At that point, Manafort told Fallarino he would go to Laporta for help on his income numbers. Fallarino told Manafort at another point that he would "need a change" in a letter Laporta wrote for the bank describing a fake loan forgiveness, according to an email revealed at the trial.
Laporta admitted under oath to sending fake documents to the bank for Manafort.
Manafort was found guilty on the bank fraud charge related to this Citizens Bank loan. The jury could not reach a verdict on two bank fraud conspiracy charges related to the same Citizens Bank loan and a separate loan application.
CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to show police have not deemed the man a suspect in the burglaries.
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