Donald Trump’s family business, the Trump Organization, was found guilty Tuesday of fraud and tax evasion by a jury in New York in a severe blow to the former president, who aspires to return to the White House.
After a month of hearings, the jury found the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation “guilty on all counts,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said on his Twitter account.
greed and deceit
“This is a case of greed and deceit. In Manhattan, no business is above the law,” Bragg said in a statement, in which he noted that this is the first time a Trump-owned business has been criminally convicted.
Although the final sentence will not be known until January 13, 2023, the company faces a fine of up to about 1.5 million dollars, which will not have much impact on the billionaire’s finances.
However, the conviction may deal a serious blow to his reputation in his bid to return to the White House in 2024.
The jury recognized that the Trump Organization — currently run by two of his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump — paid top executives financially in the black between 2005 and 2021. “We disagree with the jury’s verdict,” it said. Susan Necheles, a lawyer for the Trump team, who announced that they will appeal the ruling.
The former financial director of the company and close to Donald Trump, Allen Weisselberg, had pleaded guilty on August 18 to 15 charges of defrauding and evading taxes for $1.76 million in unreported income between 2005 and 2021, and linked directly targeting the Trump Organization with “a wide range of criminal activities.”
Weisselberg, 75, who has worked for the Trumps since 1973, was one of the key witnesses in the trial. In it, he admitted the scheme created by the company to receive undeclared benefits such as the usufruct of a luxurious apartment in an elegant residential neighborhood in Manhattan, luxury cars for him and his wife, tuition fees at a private school for his grandchildren. , the payment of furniture or cash for vacations.
Under the plea bargain, Weisselberg agreed to pay nearly $2 million in fines and serve a five-month jail sentence (compared to 15 years without a deal) in exchange for his statement at trial, which was It started on October 24.
“For 13 years, the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation maintained a scheme that rewarded top executives with lavish perks and severance payments while intentionally hiding the benefits from authorities to avoid paying taxes,” Bragg said.