NEW YORK _ The "Taxi King" could be flipping on his partner _ and President Donald Trump's personal lawyer _ Michael Cohen, in exchange for leniency in a $5 million fraud case, according to a report.
Evgeny Freidman, 46, a Russian immigrant who co-owned a taxi medallion business with Cohen, agreed to plea guilty to felony tax fraud Tuesday for cheating the government out of millions of dollars in taxes from his taxi fleet, New York state's Acting Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced.
The disgraced taxi magnate also quietly agreed to cooperate with ongoing federal and state investigations in hopes of being spared jail time, The New York Times reported.
That could put pressure on Cohen to cooperate with federal authorities investigating Cohen's business practices.
Freidman denied the report.
"It is shameful," he wrote the New York Daily News in a text. "I plead guilty to a felony, I am humbled and shamed! This is me taking responsibility for my actions, and has nothing to do w/ mc."
His lawyer, Patrick Egan, was more measured in his response.
"The NY Times report assumes facts that are not of record. My client entered a plea this morning in Albany. The plea agreement is not of record. I cannot comment on any speculation regarding what the entry of the plea indicates regarding any case other than my client's," Egan said.
Cohen's apartment, office and hotel room were raided last month by federal investigators after getting information from special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating the Trump campaign's ties to Russia.
Federal and state investigators had already been looking into Cohen's businesses as part of a fraud investigation, court documents show.
In Albany Supreme Court on Tuesday, Freidman admitted to defrauding taxpayers out of a 50 cent "MTA Tax" on millions of taxi rides between the 2012 and 2015.
Friedman, who was a lawyer, collected the taxes but then did not pass them on to the state.
He entered a guilty plea to a felony before Justice Peter Lynch.
"Today the 'Taxi King' admitted that he built his empire by stealing from New Yorkers," Underwood said in a statement.
Freidman acknowledged stealing $50,000 in his plea, but is on the hook for much more.
He must pay half a million dollars in restitution within 30 days and pay another $500,000 on the day he's sentenced. He also lost his law license.
He was also hit a with an addition $4 million judgment.
Freidman insisted to the Daily News that he wasn't turning on his old pal.
"Michael is a dear dear personal friend and a passive client! That's it!" Friedman texted. "This is a very difficult day for myself and my family! I had been an officer of the court in excess of 20 years and now I am a felon!"
