Trump att’y a tax deadbeat
Owes $37G on state cab biz levy
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S highprofile personal attorney owes nearly $40,000 in unpaid state taxes earmarked for the MTA, state records show.
Michael Cohen and his wife, Laura, owe $37,434 for unpaid taxi taxes, according to seven warrants filed by the state Department of Taxation.
Riders fork over an extra 50 cents on each taxi ride that medallion managers are obligated to give to the state to help finance MTA operations.
The tax warrants, filed between April and June, range from $1,078 against N.Y. Funky Taxi Corp. to $10,166 against Martha Cab Corp.
The warrants list Cohen's home address on Park Ave. in Manhattan, and six of them were addressed directly to Cohen, records show.
If he doesn’t pay, the state can hit him with a levy, garnishee his wages, or seize and sell his property. Those added actions are taken on a case-by-case basis, said James Gazzale, a spokesman for the state Department of Taxation and Finance.
Cohen and a White House spokeswoman did not return a call and email seeking comment.
The 50-year-old lawyer says his 16 taxi companies are managed by associates tied to the “Taxi King,” Evgeny Friedman, according to a report in the Real Deal.
Friedman is also deep in hock to the state, owing $5 million for unpaid taxes.
He was arrested in June and charged with four counts of criminal tax fraud and a count of grand larceny. Each felony charge carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
The embattled taxi king posted $500,000 bail and has pleaded not guilty.
Friedman, who once oversaw a fleet of more than 800 taxis, is dealing with a series of legal cases.
Last year, a bankruptcy judge forced him to give up dozens of his taxi medallions after he defaulted on loans from Citibank.
Also in 2016, city marshals booted one of his companies, Taxi Club Management, after he failed to pay $77,091 in back rent, according to court documents.
Cohen is a longtime Trump backer who is known among colleagues as the President’s pit bull. He worked for Trump’s real estate company for over a decade and has been a staunch supporter of his boss.
When several women accused Trump of sexual assault during last year’s campaign, Cohen dismissed their claims.
The lawyer has also gotten caught up in the Russia investigation.
In May, he confirmed to ABC News that House and Senate probers demanded he “provide information and testimony” about any contacts he had with people tied to the Kremlin.
But Cohen said he turned down the request because it was “poorly phrased, overly broad and not capable of being answered.”