Trump's Two Companies Convicted For Tax Fraud, Days After He Announced Third Campaign For US Presidency
The conviction does not charge Trump with tax fraud.
Adding to the legal trouble of former US President Donald Trump, his real estate company has been convicted of carrying out a 15-year-long criminal scheme to defraud tax authorities, reported Reuters. Two companies have been convicted on the charges, Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corporation.
The conviction, which came on Tuesday, does not charge Trump for the fraud. The jury deliberated for about 12 hours over two days.
The Trump Organisation operates in many areas including hotels, golf courses, and real estate around the world. The organisation has been found guilty of paying personal expenses for top executives including former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, and issuing bonus checks to them as if they were independent contractors.
With the judgment, the company now faces fines of up to $1.6 million after being convicted on all charges which includes scheming to defraud tax authorities, conspiracy, and falsifying business records
The conviction would certainly make it difficult for the companies to do business.
The sentencing has been listed on January 13 by the court.
Weisselberg’s Testification
75-year-old Allen Weisselberg testified in the court as the government's witness as part of a plea deal that calls for a sentence of five months in jail.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office prosecuted the case, called the verdict "very just."
Bragg added, "The former president's companies now stand convicted of crimes." He did not respond when asked if he regretted not charging Trump in the case. He mentioned, though, that the office's investigation into Trump is continuing.
Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty in August to concealing $1.76 million in income from tax authorities, testified that although Trump signed checks involved, he did not conspire with him.
He said that the company saved money by paying for his rent, utilities, Mercedes-Benz car leases for him and his wife, and other personal expenses instead of raising his salary because a wage hike would have had to account for taxes.
He added that Trump’s two sons gave him a raise after they came to know about the tax dodge scheme.
By then, Trump was president, and the company was preparing for greater scrutiny.
"We were going through an entire cleanup process of the company to make sure that since Mr. Trump is now president everything was being done properly," Weisselberg testified.
Appeal And Further Course Of Action
Claiming that the criminal law governing corporate liability was vague, Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, said the company would appeal.
"It was central to the case," he told reporters after the verdict.
The case centered on charges that the company paid personal expenses like free rent and car leases for executives including Weisselberg without reporting the income. The charges held that the company gave them bonuses as non-employee compensation from other Trump entities like the Mar-a-lago Club, without deducting taxes.
According to testimony during the four-week trial, Trump himself signed the bonus checks annually, paid private school tuition for Weisselberg's grandchildren, authorized the lease for his luxury Manhattan apartment and approved a salary deduction for another executive, reported Reuters.
"The whole narrative that Donald Trump was blissfully ignorant is just not real," prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told jurors during his closing argument on Friday.
He added that the "smorgasbord of benefits" was designed to keep top executives "happy and loyal."
Reacting to the verdict, Trump said that he was "disappointed" and called the case a "Manhattan witch hunt."
Interestingly, both Bragg and his predecessor who brought the charges, Cyrus Vance, are Democrats.
Other Lawsuits
The Trump Organization already faces a separate lawsuit on fraud brought by New York state Attorney General Letitia James.
On the other hand, Donald Trump is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice over his handling of sensitive government documents after he left office in January 2021 and for the alleged attempts to overturn the November 2020 election.
Lawyers for the Trump Organization argued that Weisselberg carried out the scheme to benefit himself, not the company. According to Reuters, Weisselberg is currently on paid leave and testified that he hopes to get another $500,000 bonus in January.
Earlier, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on November 19. that his family got "no economic gain from the acts done by the executive."
Republican Donald Trump, on November 15 announced that he will try his fate for the US presidency for the third time in 2024.
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