Nate Ball, a close associate of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, faces eight felony charges

CNN
—

Nate Ball, a real estate investor and close associate of impeached Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, was indicted on eight counts of financial crimes.

A 23-page federal indictment alleges Paul made false statements to mortgage lenders and credit unions to obtain business loans. The court filing refers to the alleged financial crimes that took place in 2017 and 2018.

Her relationship with Paxton is the main focus Accusative articles The case was brought against the impeached attorney general last month, CNN reported.

Paul’s attorney, Jerry Morris, declined to comment on the allegations to CNN.

Paxton, who faces an FBI investigation, was not named in the indictment unsealed Friday morning.

“The allegations against Paul have nothing to do with Attorney General Ken Paxton. Nothing. It should show how weak this impeachment effort is,” said Tony Busbee, who is representing Paxton in the impeachment.

However, another of Paxton’s attorneys, Dan Koktel, told the Dallas Morning News that the criminal charges filed against Paul may be part of a strategy to incriminate the real estate developer.

“You don’t have to be Nostradamus to assume they’re going to try to flip Nate Paul to testify against Ken. [Paxton]. I don’t really know that. But I would be very surprised if it wasn’t,” Koktel told the newspaper.

According to federal prosecutors, Paul faces up to 30 years in prison and $1 million in fines for each count filed in the indictment.

Paul was released on bond after an initial appearance Friday morning before a federal magistrate judge in Austin, Texas. The judge ordered Paul to surrender his passport and said he can travel freely in Texas, but must notify the court if he wants to leave the state.

When reached for comment, the FBI deferred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

State representatives voted to impeach Paxton after a legislative investigation exposed years of corrupt practices, including abuse of the powers of his office, retaliation against whistleblowers and obstruction of justice.

This study followed Paxton’s effort To settle a case Along with four former employees of the attorney general’s office after whistleblowers accused Paxton of using his power to benefit Paul, who donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Republican’s re-election campaign.

Several articles of indictment shed light on Paxton’s relationship with Paul, including that Paxton used attorney general’s office staff to write legal opinions to help Paul avoid foreclosures on properties owned by Paul and his businesses.

Both men have previously denied wrongdoing.

While Paxton waited A state senate impeachment trialHe has been temporarily suspended from his duties.

Following the House vote to impeach the attorney general, Paxton called the move a “politically motivated sham.”