Trump Organization could face criminal charges in NY

The Manhattan district attorney’s office has informed former President Donald Trump’s lawyers that it is considering criminal charges against his family business, the Trump Organization, in connection with fringe benefits the company awarded a top executive, according to several people with knowledge of the matter.

If the case moves ahead, the district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr., could announce charges against the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, as soon as next week, the people said.

An indictment of the Trump Organization could mark the first criminal charges to emerge from Vance’s long-running investigation into Trump and his business dealings.

While the prosecutors had been building a case for months against Weisselberg as part of an effort to pressure him to cooperate with the inquiry, it was not previously known that the company also might face charges.

Prosecutors recently have focused much of their investigation into the perks that Trump and the company gave Weisselberg and other executives, including tens of thousands of dollars in private school tuition for one of Weisselberg’s grandchildren, as well as rents on apartments and car leases.

Prosecutors are looking into whether those benefits were properly recorded in the company’s ledgers and whether taxes were paid on them, The New York Times has reported.

It would be highly unusual to indict a company just for failing to pay taxes on fringe benefits, and it is unclear whether Trump will ultimately face charges himself. The investigation, which began three years ago, has been wide-ranging, examining whether the Trump Organization manipulated the value of its properties to obtain favorable loans and tax benefits, people with knowledge of the matter have said.

A spokesman for Vance’s office declined comment. A lawyer for Weisselberg, Mary Mulligan, also declined comment. A spokeswoman for the Trump Organization could not immediately be reached for comment.