Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L Bragg, Jr. said today that employees of the Trump Organization in addition to CFO Allen Weisselberg engaged in schemes to avoid paying taxes on compensation provided by the company. Bragg did not name the other employees and did not indicate whether law enforcement action against them was underway.
Bragg”™s statement came after Weisselberg had pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to devising and operating a 15-year scheme to defraud federal, New York state, and New York City tax authorities, that included evading payment of taxes due on $1.76 million in unreported income. Weisselberg admitted that he engaged in the scheme to defraud together with his co-defendants, the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corp., specifically implicating the Trump Organization in the criminal charges. During the scheme up and until 2017, former President Donald Trump was president and owner of the Trump Organization.
Weisselberg has agreed to testify against the Trump Organization, but not Donald Trump nor members of his family as individuals, when the organization goes on trial beginning Oct. 24.
If he follows through with the agreement, Weisselberg is expected to be sentenced to serve five months in jail, but with good behavior could be out in 100 days. He then would serve five years on probation. It is expected that Weisselberg will serve his sentence at the Rikers Island jail. He had been facing the possibility of up to 15 years in prison before the plea bargain had been put into place.
Before the sentence is handed down, Weisselberg must make full repayment of taxes, penalties and interest due to New York City and New York state totaling $1,994,321.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty to:
- One count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree;
- Three counts of Criminal Tax Fraud in the Third Degree;
- One count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree;
- One count of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree; One count of Criminal Tax Fraud in the Fourth Degree;
- Four counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree;
- And, four counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree.
Weisselberg admitted to evading paying taxes on the $1.76 million in unreported income that the Trump Organization paid him in the form of benefits including paying for his rent on an apartment on Riverside Boulevard in Manhattan, utilities and garage privileges related to the apartment, multiple Mercedes Benz automobiles, private school tuition for his grandchildren, unreported cash and furnishings for his apartment and home in Florida.
“Today Allen Weisselberg admitted in court that he used his position at the Trump Organization to bilk taxpayers and enrich himself,” Bragg said. “This plea agreement directly implicates the Trump Organization in a wide range of criminal activity and requires Weisselberg to provide invaluable testimony in the upcoming trial against the corporation. Furthermore, thanks to the incredibly hard work and dedication of the team prosecuting this case, Weisselberg will spend time behind bars. We look forward to proving our case in court against the Trump Organization.”
Bragg pointed out that the investigation concerning Donald Trump and the Trump Organization is ongoing.
