In the summer of 2021, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office filed suit against the Trump Organization and its longtime financial director, Allen Weisselberg, on charges including tax fraud. Trump himself has not been charged and is unlikely to testify, according to media reports.
According to the public prosecutor, the company systematically defrauded the tax authorities from 2005 to 2021 under Weisselberg’s supervision. This was to hide tax-free benefits such as luxury cars and expensive apartments from Weisselberg and other executives.
The trial should first begin with jury selection at the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, as reported by the “New York Times.” Accordingly, the Trump Organization and another accused company in the group face a fine of up to $1.7 million.
In June 2021, Weisselberg resigned as chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. A few weeks later, he pleaded guilty to a total of 15 charges, including conspiracy, tax fraud, grand theft and falsifying business documents. The 75-year-old escaped a possible prison sentence of up to 15 years. Instead, he had to pay a total of nearly $2 million in taxes and fines owed, and was given five months in prison and five additional years of probation. In return, he agreed to testify against the company in the trial, but not against Trump himself.
When he took office as US president in January 2017, Donald Trump announced his retirement from the top of his group of companies, which consists of many smaller companies. He had passed this on to Weisselberg and his sons Don Jr. and Eric Trump.
(SDA)