Silke Jasso
The Trump organization was hit with a hefty $1.6 million in fines after a New York judge sentenced it for running a 15-year tax fraud scheme. Prosecutors say that they believe that Top Executives at the company had orchestrated the scheme out of pure greed.
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Trump Payroll Corp. and Trump Corp, both subsidiaries of the Trump organization, were convicted last month on 17 counts, which included conspiracy, falsifying business records, and criminal attacks. Prosecutor Joshua Teingladd had urged acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to fine them both the maximum allowed under the law.
“The sheer magnitude of the fraud calls for the maximum possible fine for falsifying business records and helping senior managers evade taxes as they defrauded the tax authorities. The crimes were deep, wide and long, lasting for decades,” Steinglass noted. “The conduct can only be described as egregious.”
The judge went on to agree and fine Trump Corp. $810,000 and Trump Payroll $800,000. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg went on to hail the sentence in a statement. “While corporations can’t serve jail time, this consequential conviction and sentencing serve as a reminder to corporations and executives that you cannot defraud tax authorities and get away with it,” Bragg stated. The lone person that was charged in the scheme was the company’s former Chief Financial officer, Allen Weisselberg.
Trump Organization Fined $1.6 Million
Weisselberg pleaded guilty back in August and became the prosecution’s star witness during the trial. There he described how top employees and the company all evaded paying taxes that they owed. According to prosecutors, Weisselberg was the biggest personal beneficiary of the scheme. In total, he collected $1.76 millon in “indirect employee compensation.” This included expensive cars, a rent-free apartment, new furniture, and private school tuition for his grandchildren. Other Executives went on to receive similar perks and were also paid bonuses as independent contractors, saving the company money in payroll taxes.
Weisselberg was sentenced to 5 months in jail at Rikers Island. If convicted at the trial he could have faced up to 15 years in prison.
The company and Weisselberg were first charged back in June 2021 after a year-long investigation into the company’s business practice by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office and the State Attorney General’s office.
At the trial, the company’s lawyers stated that Weisselberg was the lone actor and maintained that the other executives, as well as former president Donald Trump, were oblivious as to what was occurring. “This case was all about Allen Weisselberg committing tax fraud on his personal tax returns. Every witness repeatedly testified that President Trump and the Trump family knew nothing about Allen Weisselberg’s actions,” Trump attorney Susan Necheles said after the verdict.
Through a statement after the sentencing, one spokesperson for the Trump organization stated that Weisselberg is “a victim. He was threatened, intimidated and terrorized” into cooperating with prosecutors. President Trump and the Trump Organization are also both victims,” the statement read. “These politically motivated prosecutors will stop at nothing to get President Trump.
The $1.6 million in penalties the district attorney sought is the maximum allowed under any applicable statutes in the case.
