Trump picked stock fraud felon as senior adviser

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump tapped a man to be a senior business adviser to his real-estate empire even after the man's past involvement in a major Mafia-linked stock fraud scheme had become publicly known, according to Associated Press interviews and a review of court records.

Sater presented business cards describing himself as a senior adviser to Donald Trump, and he had an office on the same floor as Trump's own office in New York's Trump Tower, The Associated Press learned through interviews and court records.

According to Trump lawyer Alan Garten, Sater's role was to prospect for high-end real estate deals for the Trump Organization.

The revelation about Sater's role is significant because of its timing and directness, and marks the first time the Trump Organization has acknowledged publicly that Sater worked for Trump after the disclosures of Sater's criminal background.

[...] Garten noted that U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch praised Sater's cooperation with the federal government, when senators asked about him during her confirmation hearings early this year.

Prosecutors called the operation a pump-and-dump scheme, in which insiders manipulate the price of obscure stocks and then sell them to hapless investors at inflated prices.

Sater altered his name, to Satter, and became a top executive in Bayrock, a development firm that partnered with Trump on the Trump Soho high-rise hotel in Manhattan and other branded luxury real estate deals.