Allen Weisselberg, center, arrives for the arraignment. (Victor J. Blue for The Post)
By Shayna Jacobs, David A. Fahrenthold, Josh Dawsey, and Jonathan O’Connell, Washington Post
NEW YORK — Prosecutors charged the Trump Organization with a 15-year “scheme to defraud” the government and its chief financial officer with grand larceny and tax fraud in a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday, describing what they said was a wide-ranging effort to hide income from tax authorities. .
In charging papers, prosecutors alleged that Allen Weisselberg, former president Donald Trump’s longtime CFO, had avoided more than $900,000 in taxes by concealing the value of benefits he got from Trump’s company — including a free apartment, free Mercedes-Benz cars, new furniture and tuition payments for his relatives.
Related:
Trump’s Family Business, CFO Weisselberg Charged With Tax Crimes (NPR)
Trump Organization Is Charged With Running 15-Year Employee Tax Scheme (NYT)
Read the indictment charges
In internal records, the Trump Organization treated these benefits as part of Weisselberg’s compensation, prosecutors said. But it did not report them to tax authorities, allowing Weisselberg and the company to avoid taxes, the documents said. Investigation of Trump Organization now explores possible criminal conduct In May 2021, The Post’s David Fahrenthold told us what is known — and what isn’t — about two New York state investigations of the Trump organization. (Luis Velarde/The Washington Post)
The indictment said that other, unnamed Trump Organization executives were given similar benefits. It also said that Weisselberg had orchestrated the scheme along with “others” at the company but did not name any of the others. Weisselberg was the only executive charged on Thursday.
Weisselberg, who has worked for the Trump Organization since the 1970s, pleaded not guilty during a brief arraignment hearing that began about 2:20 p.m. He walked into the courtroom in a dark suit, surrounded by detectives and court officers. He did not respond to questions from reporters in the hallway outside.
Weisselberg, 73, had surrendered at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office early Thursday, the morning after a grand jury filed indictments against him and the Trump Organization. He was released after the hearing, but he was required to surrender his passport after prosecutors said he was a “flight risk.”
