( CNN) The one sizzling image out of the first week of the Paul Manafort financial scam trial in Virginia is the mug shot of the defendant's $15,000 ostrich scalp jacket, described by some as a monument to the excess of the Washington swamp.
Now living in exile in Russia and wanted in Ukraine for high treason, Yanukovych had a fondness for ostrich skin shoes and even had live ostriches on his lavish estate near Kiev known as Mezhyhirya.( Manafort is believed to have been a frequent visitor ).
But it is not just a fondness for ostriches that the two men have in common: Both had a weakness for offshore bank accounts, fine suits and prestigious properties. Watching reports of the trial, Ukrainians could be forgiven for having flashbacks to Yanukovych and the millions he spent on luxuries, ranging from antique cars and a stuffed crocodile to a galleon eatery and even an ornate, in-house chapel.
