![]() ![]() In a deposition, Paul described Sagiraju as an “independent contractor” and said he didn’t remember how they first met. Paul, who also employed a woman with whom Paxton acknowledged having an extramarital affair, has denied bribing Paxton. The report described Sagiraju as Paul’s “friend.” Last year a court-appointed overseer for some of Paul’s companies wrote in a report that Cupertino Builders was used for “fraudulent transfers” from his business to Narsimha Raju Sagiraju, who was convicted of fraud in California in 2016. A company of the same name was formed in Delaware in April of that year, although public filings there do not make clear who is behind it. The company did not incorporate as a business in Texas until more than three weeks after the transaction took place. The $121,000 payment was to Cupertino Builders, whose manager was an associate of Paul, state corporation and court records show. 1, 2020 - the same day Paxton’s deputies signed a letter informing the head of human resources at the Texas attorney general’s office that they had reported Paxton to the FBI. On Wednesday, Paxton’s defense team showed a packed room of journalists a bank statement that included a 2020 wire transfer purportedly showing him, and not a donor, paying more than $120,000 for a home renovation. The allegations by Paxton’s staff prompted separate FBI investigation of the attorney general, which remains ongoing, and are central to articles of impeachment overwhelmingly approved by the GOP-led state House of Representatives. The next year, seven of Paxton’s top deputies reported the attorney general to the FBI on allegations of bribery and abusing his office to help Paul, including by hiring an outside lawyer to examine the developer’s claims of wrongdoing by federal agents. ![]() The FBI declined to comment, and a spokesman for federal prosecutors in West Texas did not respond to inquires.įBI agents examining Paul’s troubled real estate empire searched his Austin offices and palatial home in 2019. Lawyers for Paul did not immediately respond to requests for comment.One of Paxton’s defense attorneys, Dan Cogdell, said he had no additional information on the arrest. Paul’s arrest followed a yearslong federal investigation into the Austin real estate developer - a probe that Paxton involved his office in, setting off a chain of events that ultimately led to his impeachment last month. It was not immediately clear what charges led to his arrest, but the records showed he was being held on a federal detainer for a felony. ![]() Nate Paul, 36, was taken into custody by federal agents and booked into an Austin jail in the afternoon, according Travis County Sheriff’s Office records. AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The FBI on Thursday arrested a businessman at the center of the scandal that led to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s historic impeachment, a move that came amid new questions about the men’s dealings raised by financial records the Republican’s lawyers made public to try to clear him of bribery allegations. ![]()
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