Trump Organization Is Charged With Running 15-Year Employee Tax Scheme

Authored by nytimes.com and submitted by hoosakiwi

Mr. Trump won the presidency by portraying himself as a political outsider with the business acumen to shake up Washington. But the company whose name he made famous on his reality television show, “The Apprentice,” might eventually be associated as much with criminal charges as it is with the hotels and golf courses that bear his name. If the company is found guilty, it could face fines or other penalties.

In the next phase of the broader investigation into Mr. Trump and his company, the prosecutors are expected to continue scrutinizing whether the Trump Organization manipulated property values to obtain loans and tax benefits, among other potential financial crimes, according to people familiar with the matter.

Letitia James, the New York attorney general, said in a statement that the investigation will continue.

An accountant who began his career working for Mr. Trump’s father nearly a half-century ago, Mr. Weisselberg has served as the Trump Organization’s financial gatekeeper for more than two decades and recently ran the business with Mr. Trump’s adult sons while Mr. Trump was in the White House.

Famously hard-working — he once said he took “no vacations” — Mr. Weisselberg gained an unparalleled view into the inner workings of the company and its bare-knuckled brawls with business partners. Mr. Weisselberg “knows of every dime that leaves the building,” Corey Lewandowski, a former Trump campaign official, wrote in the book he co-authored, “Let Trump Be Trump.”

Mr. Weisselberg, who is 73 years old, still could cooperate with the prosecutors. If he ultimately pleads guilty and strikes a deal, he could do considerable damage to Mr. Trump, who for decades has depended on his unflinching loyalty, once declaring with “100 percent” certainty that Mr. Weisselberg had not betrayed him.

The two started working together closely in the late 1970s, with Mr. Weisselberg putting in time on nights and weekends to handle projects for Mr. Trump, the ambitious son of his boss, Fred Trump. Mr. Weisselberg said in a 2015 deposition that he had been helping with Mr. Trump’s tax returns since at least the 1990s, when Mr. Trump made him the organization’s chief financial officer.

annoyingrelative on July 1st, 2021 at 21:16 UTC »

Rumor is the unindicted co-conspirator is not trump but trump org Controller Jeff McConney.

McConney already spoke with the Special Grand Jury which was reported on June 4th

McConney has been with trump since the 80s, and probably SHOULD HAVE BEEN INDICTED, unless he is cooperating.

808trades on July 1st, 2021 at 19:45 UTC »

just wait until they charge Trumps Campaign Committee - they stole and hid millions.

hoosakiwi on July 1st, 2021 at 18:39 UTC »

From a reporter in the courtroom:

Tweet 1

ADA Carey Dunne "As spelled out in the indictment, this was a 15-year long tax fraud scheme...it was orchestrated by the most senior execs who were financially benefitting themselves and others...CFO avoided taxes on 1.7 million in income...")

Tweet 2

QUITE significant that this is not about "perks" but about a long-running scheme to defraud.

The former president's company has been charged with 15 year scheme to defraud.

Let that sink in.

Some more interesting tidbits from reporters in the courtroom:

Tweet 3

"This was, to be blunt, sweeping and audacious," the NY attorney said "the CFO himself directed that company records be deleted with the knowledge of the company, yet he remains to this day" one of the most senior people in the company.

Tweet 4

Attorneys for NY said that Weisselberg is a flight risk, that he travels frequently by private jet and that he has connections and assets in places that the state has no power. Weisselberg's team agreed to turn over his passport.