On Thursday, the Trump Organization in New York and Allen Weisselberg, its long-time Chief Financial Officer, pleaded not guilty to tax fraud. The alleged 15-year tax evasion scheme is the first criminal case that has been filed against the former president’s company.
Although Donald Trump was not charged with any wrongdoing, prosecutors pointed out that he signed some of the checks that are at the centre of the investigation. According to an Associated Press report, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Junior and New York Attorney General Letitia James are leading the investigation.
Weisselberg has been charged with defrauding the federal government, state, and city of over $900,000 in unpaid taxes and undeserved tax refunds. New York authorities conducted a two-year investigation into the case. Other issues under investigation include the company paying for his grandchildren’s private tuition with checks signed by Trump, as well as Mercedes cars drove by Weisselberg and his wife and giving him cash to hand out tips around Christmas. Prosecutors hope to put Weisselberg under duress to elicit more information from him.
For the past 15 years, similar pay-offs have aided other company executives in evading taxes. Weisselberg surrendered to authorities on Thursday. He was released without bail after surrendering his passport. He faces a sentence of five to fifteen years in prison if convicted. Weisselberg, 73, has intimate knowledge of the Trump Organization’s financial dealings, having worked there for nearly fifty years.
Despite living in a Manhattan apartment paid for by the company, Weisselberg pretended to be a New York resident. He claimed residency in a Long Island home and avoided paying thousands of dollars in federal, state, and city income taxes as a result. Weisselberrg was also questioned about the little to no cost use of a Trump apartment by his son.
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