Former Giuliani associates plead not guilty to charges in new indictment

A Ukraine-born businessman who once helped Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani gather information about U.S. President-elect Joe Biden pleaded not guilty to cheating investors in a fraud insurance company, even after his former partner in the venture pleaded guilty.

At a hearing on Monday before U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken in Manhattan, Lev Parnas and another former Giuliani associate, Igor Fruman, also pleaded not guilty to violating campaign finance laws and other charges in an amended indictment. Oetken also agreed to postpone the trial, after defense lawyers said the COVID-19 pandemic and prosecutors' failure to turn over evidence made the planned March 1, 2021 date unworkable.