Thomas Barrack, Executive Chairman and CEO of Colony Capital, attends a panel discussion during the annual Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on April 28, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California.
Michael Kovac | Getty Images
A bail hearing for Thomas Barrack, the private equity investor criminally accused of illegally influencing his close friend, former President Donald Trump, on behalf of the United Arab Emirates, was postponed to Friday in federal court in Los Angeles.
Also on Friday, a Barrack-backed company, Falcon Acquisition, wrote to the Securities and Exchange Commission in a letter that it was withdrawing its company registration statement with the regulator “because the company has decided to abandon proposed transactions.”
These transactions included an IPO of 25 million shares to raise $ 250 million for Falcon Acquisition, a so-called blank check company founded by Falcon Peak, Barrack’s family office, and TI Capital. Falcon Acquisition, which had planned to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, announced that it would target technology-oriented companies as candidates for mergers.
A Falcon Peak attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Barrack, 74, has been in prison in Los Angeles since his arrest Tuesday. His bail hearing was originally due to take place next Monday, along with Thomas Grimes, a 27-year-old Barrack business partner who is charged in the same case.
But the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, New York, who are prosecuting Barrack and Grimes, said Friday morning that the bail hearing against both men will now be held in California at 1 p.m. EDT.
Attorneys at Barrack’s first LA court appearance on Tuesday moved to detain him until he appears for at least one more court hearing in Brooklyn, as he could escape to avoid charges.
A Barrack spokesman declined CNBC’s request for comment on the change in bail negotiations.
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Barrack, along with Grimes and United Arab Emirates national Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, are charged with secretly advancing the interests of the United Arab Emirates by influencing the foreign policy positions of Trump’s 2016 campaign and these efforts during the direction of senior officials in that country Trump’s presidency to continue until April 2018.
Barrack is also charged with obstruction of justice and multiple false statements during an interview with federal police officers in June 2019.
The indictment states that Barrack simultaneously advised American officials informally on Middle East policy and was also seeking appointment to a leading role in the US government, including as special envoy for the Middle East.
Alshahhi, 43, remains at large in the case.
– Additional coverage from CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger
