- Prosecutors claim the Trump Organization and Weisselberg had an “out of the book” compensation plan.
- The company, the public prosecutor claimed, had “falsified” the executive’s remuneration documents.
- Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance has delved deep into the Trump family business.
The criminal charges against the Trump organization and its CFO Allen Weisselberg, unsealed on Thursday, contain a more than ten-year conspiracy into alleged tax evasion, which represents the most serious threat to the Trump family’s real estate company, which was long led by Donald Trump.
The Trump Organization and Weisselberg have been charged with criminal tax fraud, conspiracy and forgery of business records on a 15-point indictment.
CFO Weisselberg, who was handcuffed to the courtroom, was also charged with aggravated theft related to failing to pay taxes on $ 1.7 million in fringe benefits from the company.
“Mr. Weisselberg intends to fight these allegations in court,” said attorney Bryan Skarlatos in a written statement on Thursday. Weißelberg, who pleaded not guilty, was released on his own.
TRUMP ORG CHARGED UP: Donald Trump’s danger is on the legal side, not the political one
Big theft
Prosecutors alleged that the Trump Organization and Weißelberg had participated in an “open compensation campaign” that financed luxury car leasing, tuition fees for family members and apartment rentals from 2005 until this year.
According to court records, Weisselberg regularly filed requests for payment to the corporation to fund improvements to his homes in New York and Florida and those of his children. Spending included new carpeting, flat screen TVs, and furniture that was never tax deductible.
“The program should enable certain employees to set their compensation from the Trump organization significantly underestimated, so that they could and actually should have paid federal, state and local taxes in significantly lower amounts,” the court said.
In total, Weißelberg avoided $ 556,385 in federal tax payments; US $ 106,568 in state taxes; and $ 238,159 in New York local taxes. At the same time, prosecutors claim the longtime manager accepted $ 94,902 in federal tax refunds and $ 38,222 in state tax refunds, which he was not entitled to.
According to court documents, the company kept internal spreadsheets that tracked the direct and indirect compensations to Weißelberg over the years. While Weisselberg’s direct compensation was capped at $ 940,000 for years, prosecutors claim the Trump Organization – on Weisberg’s direction – did not consider the indirect payments as taxable income.
The company, the public prosecutor claimed, had “falsified” the executive’s remuneration documents.
The greatest threat to Weißelberg is the charge of the great theft, which carries a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison. The Trump organization faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines if convicted of being a criminal enterprise.
Perhaps more ominous was the message from the prosecutors, who signaled that the 25-page indictment did not mean the end of their investigation.
“Today is an important marker in the ongoing criminal investigation against the Trump Organization and its CFO Allen Weisselberg,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “In the indictment we accuse the Trump organization of financial misconduct in a plan with Mr. Weisselberg to avoid taxes on certain compensations. This investigation will continue and we will obey the facts and the law wherever they lead. “
Trump, who was not charged on Thursday, referred to the lawsuit in now familiar glory, calling it a “witch hunt by radical left-wing Democrats”.
“It divides our country like never before,” Trump said in a statement.
The charges are part of a long-standing investigation by the Manhattan Attorney General and the New York Attorney General into the operations of the Trump family’s real estate company.
The indictment comes just days after Trump Organization attorneys met with local prosecutors to persuade them not to pursue their case, Trump organization attorney Ron Fischetti said.
Fischetti told USA TODAY last week that prosecutors failed to ensure Weisselberg’s cooperation, although the new charges are likely to put additional pressure on the former Trump executive to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
Cyrus Vance and Letitia James lead the investigation
For more than two years, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has been researching the Trump family business for possible fraud with banks, insurance companies, and tax authorities.
Prosecutors have also weighed the hush money payments to women on Trump’s behalf and how that money was documented.
Last month, James announced that a parallel civil investigation had escalated into a criminal investigation and that state agencies had joined Vance’s investigation.
The New York Attorney’s Office won a major public victory in February when Trump’s accounting firm was forced to surrender eight years of tax records in a protracted legal battle that ended in the Supreme Court.
Vance’s investigation appeared to have accelerated last month when it became known that a special grand jury had been convened to review possible evidence of crime by the president, his business associates, or the company itself.
Jennifer Weisselberg and Michael Cohen cooperate in the investigation of the Trump organization
Among those working on the investigation are Jennifer Weisselberg, the former daughter-in-law of the Trump organization, as well as former personal Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen.
Duncan Levin, the attorney representing Jennifer Weisselberg, said his client provided prosecutors with at least 10 boxes of information and pledged to testify in front of a grand jury or in court if necessary.
Levin also said his client was present at talks where Trump talked about providing fringe benefits, including school tuition and home renovations, in lieu of the Trump manager’s salary. Levin said Jennifer Weisselberg provided prosecutors with reports of those conversations.
Cohen has since confirmed that she met several times with the New York City Attorney’s office as part of her investigation.
Cohen told USA TODAY that he would not comment on any aspect of the case, citing the ongoing investigation and his potential role as a key witness for the prosecution. But he has commented extensively on Twitter about how the grand jury process will significantly speed up the investigation.
Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018 that included campaign finance violations for paying hush money to women who claimed to have had sex with Trump and lied to Congress, has repeatedly referred to Weisselberg as the most knowledgeable of the business former president.