Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Trump Organization Faces Criminal Tax Fraud Trial Over Perks
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
October 31, 2022

Share

For years, as Donald Trump was soaring from reality TV star to the White House, his real estate empire was bankrolling big perks for some of his most trusted senior executives, including apartments and luxury cars.

Now Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, is on trial this week for criminal tax fraud — on the hook for what prosecutors say was a 15-year scheme by top officials to hide the plums and avoid paying taxes.

Lawyers arrived at court Monday for opening statements. Last week, 12 jurors and six alternates were picked for the case, but one alternate was dismissed Monday. The tax fraud case is the only criminal trial to arise from the Manhattan district attorney’s three-year investigation of the former president.

It’s one of three active cases involving Trump or the Trump Organization in New York courts.

Among the key prosecution witnesses: Trump’s longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty and has agreed to testify against the company in exchange for a five-month jail sentence.

If convicted, the Trump Organization could be fined more than $1 million and could face difficulty in securing new loans and deals. Some partners and government entities could seek to cut ties with the company. It could also hamper its ability to do business with the U.S. Secret Service, which sometimes pays the company for lodging and services while protecting Trump as a former president.

Neither Trump nor any of his children who have worked as Trump Organization executives are charged or accused of wrongdoing. Trump is not expected to testify or even attend the trial.

Prosecutors have said they do not need to prove Trump knew about the scheme to get a conviction and that the case is “not about Donald Trump.” But a defense lawyer, William J. Brennan, said even if he’s not physically there, Trump is “ever present, like the mist in the room.”

That’s because Trump is synonymous with the Trump Organization, the entity through which he manages his many ventures, including his investments in golf courses, luxury towers and other real estate, his many marketing deals and his TV pursuits.

Trump signed some of the checks at the center of the case. His name is on memos and other company documents. Witnesses could testify about conversations they had with Trump. They are even expected to enter Trump’s personal general ledgers as evidence.

Prosecutors say The Trump Organization — through its subsidiaries Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp. — is liable in part because former Weisselberg was a “high managerial agent” entrusted to act on behalf of the company and its various entities.

The Trump Organization has said it did nothing wrong. The company’s lawyers argue that Weisselberg and other executives acted on their own and that, if anything, their actions harmed the company financially.

Weisselberg, who has pleaded guilty to taking $1.7 million in off-the-books compensation, pinned blame on himself and other top Trump Organization executives, including senior vice president and controller Jeffrey McConney.

But he disagreed with the notion that the company was harmed, saying the perks actually saved the company money because it avoiding having to give raises.

Prosecutors have said they expect to call 15 witnesses, including Weisselberg and McConney, who was granted limited immunity to testify last year before a grand jury.

Judge Juan Manuel Merchan expects the trial to take at least four weeks, though a defense lawyer estimated last week that the prosecution case alone could go on for two months. Court will meet for a full day on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursday and for a half-day on Friday.

The trial is off on Wednesday so the judge can attend to other, unrelated matters.

Beyond the criminal case, Trump and the Trump Organization are defendants in a lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who alleges that Trump and the company inflated his net worth by billions of dollars and misled banks and others for years about the value of various assets.

A hearing in that case is scheduled for Thursday.

Meanwhile, in the Bronx, jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday in a lawsuit brought by protesters who say they were roughed up by security guards outside Trump Tower. The former president gave a deposition in that case last year.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Fashion Fair’s Forever 21 to Close. ‘Still a Ways to Go,’ Says Employee

DON'T MISS

Who Runs Elon Musk’s DOGE? Not Musk, the White House Says.

DON'T MISS

New Self-Pollinating Almond Tree Could Be Huge for a Big Fresno Cash Crop

DON'T MISS

Madera County Secures First Fentanyl-Related Homicide Conviction

DON'T MISS

Musk Team Seeks Access to IRS System With Taxpayers’ Records

DON'T MISS

Bannon Calls Musk a ‘Parasitic Illegal Immigrant’

DON'T MISS

Fresno Weather Forecast: Pretty as a Postcard

DON'T MISS

Kennedy Says ‘Nothing’ Off-Limits in Scrutinizing Chronic Disease

DON'T MISS

Judge Declines to Immediately Block Elon Musk or DOGE From Federal Data or Layoffs

DON'T MISS

NBA Playoff Race Heats Up as All-Star Break Ends

UP NEXT

Timeline of a Cultlike Group Tied to the Killing of a Border Patrol Agent

UP NEXT

US and Russia Hold Historic Talks to End Ukraine War

UP NEXT

DOJ Seeks to Drop Corruption Case Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams

UP NEXT

US Deports Immigrants to Venezuela After Judge Blocked Transfer to Guantanamo Bay

UP NEXT

Rwanda-Backed Rebels Advance in Eastern Congo, Thousands Flee

UP NEXT

Judge Sentences Walmart Shoplifters to Wash Cars in the Parking Lot

UP NEXT

US Aircraft Carrier Truman Collides With Merchant Ship Near Egypt

UP NEXT

Pope Francis Hospitalized to Treat Bronchitis, Undergo Tests

UP NEXT

State Dept. Halts $400M Tesla Armored Vehicle Plan

UP NEXT

White House Says It Has the Right to Punish AP Reporters Over Gulf Naming Dispute

Madera County Secures First Fentanyl-Related Homicide Conviction

14 hours ago

Musk Team Seeks Access to IRS System With Taxpayers’ Records

14 hours ago

Bannon Calls Musk a ‘Parasitic Illegal Immigrant’

14 hours ago

Fresno Weather Forecast: Pretty as a Postcard

14 hours ago

Kennedy Says ‘Nothing’ Off-Limits in Scrutinizing Chronic Disease

14 hours ago

Judge Declines to Immediately Block Elon Musk or DOGE From Federal Data or Layoffs

15 hours ago

NBA Playoff Race Heats Up as All-Star Break Ends

15 hours ago

NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon Talks ‘Days of Thunder’ Sequel With Tom Cruise

15 hours ago

Adames Joins Giants, Excited to Team Up With Gold Glover Chapman

15 hours ago

Leonard Peltier Released After Biden Commuted Sentence in FBI Agents’ Killings

16 hours ago

Fashion Fair’s Forever 21 to Close. ‘Still a Ways to Go,’ Says Employee

Signs hung throughout fast-fashion clothing store Forever 21 show discounts ranging from 10% to 40% off the “entire store.” And,...

11 hours ago

11 hours ago

Fashion Fair’s Forever 21 to Close. ‘Still a Ways to Go,’ Says Employee

13 hours ago

Who Runs Elon Musk’s DOGE? Not Musk, the White House Says.

13 hours ago

New Self-Pollinating Almond Tree Could Be Huge for a Big Fresno Cash Crop

Fentanyl M30 Pills
14 hours ago

Madera County Secures First Fentanyl-Related Homicide Conviction

14 hours ago

Musk Team Seeks Access to IRS System With Taxpayers’ Records

FILE — Steve Bannon speaks to reporters outside State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Feb. 11, 2025. Stephen Bannon, a top adviser during President Trump’s first term and a key figure among his supporters, said Elon Musk wants to “play-act as God” as part of his push to overhaul the federal government. (Jefferson Siegel/The New York Times)
14 hours ago

Bannon Calls Musk a ‘Parasitic Illegal Immigrant’

14 hours ago

Fresno Weather Forecast: Pretty as a Postcard

14 hours ago

Kennedy Says ‘Nothing’ Off-Limits in Scrutinizing Chronic Disease

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend