The Trump Organization and its Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg pleaded not guilty Thursday to crimes related to what prosecutors called a “sweeping and audacious” scheme to avoid taxes on compensation for the CFO and other executives of the company owned by former President Donald Trump.
A 15-count indictment says the Trump Organization and Weisselberg devised that scheme to compensate Weisselberg and other company executives in an “off the books” manner, in which they “received substantial portions of their income through indirect and disguised means.”
Weisselberg himself had the rent, utilities and garage expenses paid for his apartment on Riverside Drive on Manhattan’s Upper West Side paid for by the Trump Organization without that compensation being reported to tax authorities, and without the required payment of taxes on the benefits, the indictment says.
And that charging document, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, says that Weisselberg and the company also schemed to “conceal his status as a New York City resident and enabled Weisselberg to avoid the payment of New York City income taxes.”
Weisselberg has another residence on Long Island, New York, but the indictment says that since 2005, Weisselberg “spent most of his days in New York City,” which would make him a city resident for tax purposes.
The indictment says that the Trump Organization maintained spreadsheets to track the value of the compensation paid Weisselberg and others, which was not disclosed to either federal or state tax authorities.
Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer of Trump Organization Inc., center, walks towards a courtroom at criminal court in New York, U.S., on Thursday, July 1, 2021.
Stephanie Keith | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Weisselberg personally “avoided taxes” on compensation valued as high at $1.76 million as part of the scheme “orchestrated by the most senior executives” at the Trump Organization, a prosecutor said.
Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Carey Dunne said in court that Weisselberg’s crimes were part of a “sweeping and audacious illegal payment scheme.”
The indictment against the Trump Organization and Weisselberg said the scheme lasted from March 2005 through the end of this June.
“This case is not about politics, this investigation which is ongoing, is proper,” Dunne said.
Dunne also said that there is “no clearer example of a company that should be held to criminal account.”
The Trump Organization and related entities were charged with Weisselberg with scheme to defraud in the first degree, fourth-degree conspiracy, criminal tax fraud in the third- and fourth-degree, and falsifying business records.
Weisseberg is also charged with grand larceny in the second-degree larceny.
New York state Attorney General Letitia James, whose investigators assisted the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. in the criminal case, said ““Today is an important marker in the ongoing criminal investigation of the Trump Organization and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg.”
“In the indictment, we allege, among other things, financial wrongdoing whereby the Trump Organization engaged in a scheme with Mr. Weisselberg to avoid paying taxes on certain compensation. This investigation will continue, and we will follow the facts and the law wherever they may lead.”
Ex-President Trump, in a statement, said, “The political Witch Hunt by the Radical Left Democrats, with New York now taking over the assignment, continues. It is dividing our Country like never before!”
Outside of court after the arraignment, Trump Organization lawyer Alan Futerfas told reporters, “The allegations in the indictment are just that, they are allegations.”
“These charges are going to be vigorously contested,” Futerfas said.
Futerfas also said that the charges were “unprecendented,” and typically would not have been brought by the IRS or other authorities. He said he believed the indictment was filed because of political reasons.
“If the name of the company was something else, I don’t think these charges would’ve been brought. In fact, I’m fairly certain,” he said.
Cyrus Roberts Vance Jr. District Attorney of New York County and New York State Attorney General Letitia James arrive in court for the hearing of Allen Weisselberg, former US President Donald Trumps company chief financial officer at the criminal court in lower Manhattan in New York on July 1, 2021.
Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images
Weisselberg, 73, was taken into the courtroom in handcuffs by authorities while wearing a white mask.
Weisselberg’s attorney told a judge that the defense team objected to the claims of prosecutors.
A special grand jury issued the indictment on Wednesday against Weisselberg and the Trump Organization.
Vance’s office has been investigating the Trump Organization for several years. In recent months, investigators from Attorney General James’s office joined his probe.
James was in attendance with Vance in the courtroom.
Last year, Vance won a legal battle that allowed him to obtain years of ex-President Trump’s tax records and other financial documents from his long-time accounting firm.
The Trump Organization, in a statement, criticized Vance for bringing the case.
“Allen Weisselberg is a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather who has worked at the Trump Organization for 48 years,” a spokesperson for the company said in a statement.
“He is now being used by the Manhattan District Attorney as a pawn in a scorched earth attempt to harm the former President,” the spokesperson said.
“The District Attorney is bringing a criminal prosecution involving employee benefits that neither the IRS nor any other District Attorney would ever think of bringing. This is not justice; this is politics.”
Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen has repeatedly met with Vance’s investigators to assist them with their probe.
Weisselberg’s former daughter-in-law Jennifer Weisselberg also has given prosecutors information. Her ex-ex-husband Barry Weisselberg also works for the Trump Organization.
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
