A Manhattan jury has found former President Donald Trump’s namesake real estate company guilty of criminal tax fraud, three weeks after Trump announced a third presidential run.
The jury found the two entities of the Trump Organization guilty as charged on all counts, including scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records.
The two entities — the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation — were accused of paying the personal expenses of some executives without reporting them as income and for compensating them as independent contractors instead of full-time employees. Each entity was charged with scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records.
Prosecutors believed the Trump Organization was culpable because the conduct of CFO Allen Weisselberg benefitted the company and because his position as CFO meant he was entrusted to act on the company’s behalf.
Weisselberg, who testified as part of a plea deal, pleaded guilty in August to charges that he skirted taxes on nearly $2 million in company-provided perks that included the rent on his Manhattan apartment, the leases on cars for himself and his wife and tuition for his grandchildren.
Following the verdict, a spokesperson for the Trump Organization told ABC News in a statement, “Mr. Weisselberg testified under oath that he ‘betrayed’ the trust the company had placed in him and that he, at all times, acted ‘solely’ for his ‘own personal gain’ and out of his ‘own personal greed’. The notion that a company could be held responsible for an employee’s actions, to benefit themselves, on their own personal tax returns is simply preposterous.”
Source-ABC
