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He said that he was aware they were leaving the country, but he dismissed the idea that they were fleeing and said they regularly traveled to Europe on business.

Based in South Florida, Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman are executives of an energy company that donated $325,000 to a pro-Trump super PAC last year, which prompted a Federal Election Commission complaint by a nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog accusing the men and the company of violating campaign finance laws.

Not long before the large donation, the men created a limited liability company called Global Energy Products, which they used to funnel large contributions, according to the indictment.

Last month, Mr. Giuliani sought to minimize the significance of the campaign finance inquiry into the two men and said it was resolved. And on Thursday, he questioned the timing of the indictment. “All I can tell you about this arrest is, it comes at a very suspicious time,” he said.

Prosecutors said Mr. Parnas and Mr. Fruman, along with two other men indicted on Thursday, David Correia and Andrey Kukushkin, also funneled money to state and federal candidates in exchange for potential influence, according to court papers. The men wanted to set up recreational marijuana businesses in Nevada and other states, and were seeking political help to get access to the necessary licenses.

The plot was funded by someone identified only as “Foreign National-1” who had “Russian roots,” court papers showed.

The arrangement involved an attempt to seek licenses to sell legal marijuana in Nevada, but the defendants missed a deadline to apply for them — “two months too late to the game unless we change the rules,” Mr. Kukushkin told the unidentified foreign citizen, according to the indictment.