A firm involved in the claims about the payments is not registered with the SEC and has been called a family office by a wealth management industry executive.

Columbus Nova, a firm at the center of a political storm about $500,000 of payments to a shell firm controlled by President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer has been called a “family office” by a man who had worked there for 11 years, a media report said.

Paul Lipari, is co-founder of Hudson Capital Advisors and prior to this, he had worked from 2006 to 2015 at Columbus Nova, according to Forbes. His biography on the Hudson website reads: “Mr Lipari started Hudson Capital in 2003 and then subsequently helped a family office oversee their fixed income, private equity and real estate investment platforms.” 

The publication examines Lipari’s role because Columbus Nova (CN) has been embroiled in a story about how it made payments to Essential Consultants, an entity controlled by Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and used to steer “hush money” to former adult-movie actress Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels. This week her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, claimed the CN payments to Essential Consultants were directed by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg (source: Forbes, Wall Street Journal, other). This company is part of a probe, led by the Manhattan US attorney’s office, into whether Cohen committed federal bank fraud, money laundering or other crimes (WSJ, May 10).

“Columbus Nova is a management company solely owned and controlled by Americans,” Richard Owens, Columbus Nova’s lawyer, was quoted by Forbes as saying. “Reports today that Viktor Vekselberg used Columbus Nova as a conduit for payments to Michael Cohen are false.”

According to its website, Columbus Nova does not call itself a family office. Instead, it says: “Founded in 2000, Columbus Nova ("CN") is a multi-strategy investment firm managing assets through its own funds and affiliated portfolio companies. CN has a broad investment mandate which allows investments across all levels of the capital structure from senior secured debt to equity. CN takes a value-oriented, long-term view to investing and seeks consistent returns with an emphasis on capital preservation. CN is headquartered in New York.” 

A segment on the CN website called “the team” did not work when this publication sought to enter it. The organization is headquartered in 900 Third Avenue, 19th Fl. New York, NY 10022.

Columbus Nova is not registered as an investment advisor with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which requires US firms that manage more than $100 million for outside clients to register with the securities regulator. Its SEC registration terminated in 2012, Forbes said.

When rules were changed in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, a number of investment firms, such as those of renowned hedge fund tycoon George Soros, restructured as family offices and stopped managing outsiders’ money.