The ex-CFO helped run Trump’s real estate empire during Trump’s presidency.
(Photo: AP)
new York A former Trump Organization executive has pleaded guilty to 15 years of tax evasion with Donald Trump’s family business. Weisselberg admitted Thursday that he received more than $1.7 million in benefits from the Trump Organization and didn’t pay taxes. These included school fees for his grandchildren, paying rent for an apartment in Manhattan and leasing payments for a luxury car. Some of these pecuniary benefits were not reported in the books.
As part of an agreement with the public prosecutor’s office, Judge Juan Manuel Merchan agreed to impose a prison sentence of five months on the 75-year-old Weisselberg. However, he can be released much earlier with good leadership. Weisselberg is also expected to pay nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest, and will face a five-year probationary period.
The confession obliges the former chief financial officer to testify about the company’s business practices in the forthcoming trial, Manhattan prosecutors said on Thursday.
Weisselberg is a longtime business partner of Trump. During his presidency, he helped run Trump’s real estate empire. “The confession directly implicates the Trump Organization in a broad spectrum of criminal activity,” prosecutor Alvin Bragg said.
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Weisselberg and the Trump Organization, which manages golf clubs, hotels and other properties around the world, were charged in early July 2021 with a sweeping tax fraud spree. Trump himself has not been charged.
Jury selection for the trial begins Oct. 24 — 15 days before the Nov. 8 midterm elections, in which Trump’s Republican Party hopes to retake the chambers of Congress.
A spokeswoman for the Trump Organization said the ex-executive, who worked for Trump for half a century, was “harassed, stalked and threatened by law enforcement…in their never-ending, politically motivated bid to get President Trump.” became”. The company did nothing wrong, she added.
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