Trump group charged in 15-year scheme
The Trump Organization, the real estate business that catapulted Donald J. Trump to tabloid fame, television riches and ultimately the White House, was charged Thursday, with running a 15-year scheme to help executives avoid paying taxes by compensating them off the books.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office which has been conducting the investigation, also accused a top executive, Allen H. Weisselberg, of dodging taxes on $1.7 million in perks that should have been reported as income. Weisselberg, Trump’s long-serving and trusted chief financial officer, faced grand larceny, tax fraud and other charges.
“To put it bluntly, this was a sweeping and audacious illegal payments scheme,” Carey Dunne, general counsel for the Manhattan district attorney, said when the defendants appeared for their arraignment in State Supreme Court in Manhattan.
The charges against the Trump Organization and Weisselberg — whom Trump once praised for doing “whatever was necessary to protect the bottom line” — ushered in a new phase of the district attorney’s sweeping inquiry into the business practices of Trump and his company. Weisselberg pleaded not guilty. “He will fight these changes in court,” his lawyers, Mary E. Mulligan and Bryan C . Skarlatos, said in a statement.
Lawyers for the Trump organization labeled the case inappropriate and unjustified, saying the case should be resolved by civil tax authorities.
The 15-count indictment, which charged Trump Organization with committing a scheme to defraud, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records, accused the company of a long-running conspiracy to help executives, including Weisselberg, evade tax on perks and bonuses while at the same time decreasing the company’s own tax obligations.
And while the indictment is narrowly focused on a scheme to evade taxes based on the provisions of the benefits, the charges could lay a groundwork for the next steps in the investigation, which will focus of Trump.
The broader investigation into Trump and his company’s business practices is continuing. The prosecutors in the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr. have been investigating whether Trump and his organization manipulated property values to obtain loans and tax benefits, among other potential crimes.
The indictment on Thursday follows months of an increasing pressure campaign on Weisselberg to offer information that could help that inquiry. Prosecutors subpoenaed Weisselberg’s personal tax returns and bank records, reviewed a raft of his financial dealings and questioned his ex-daughter-in-law –all part of an effort to gain his cooperation.
Trump was not charged. But an indictment of the company that carries his name strikes a blow to the former president just as he resumed holding rallies.