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The former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization will be the star witness in the company’s tax evasion trial, Bloomberg reports.
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Allen Weisselberg, 75, has agreed to testify as part of a five-month prison plea deal.
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Jury selection for the trial begins Monday in Manhattan.
The Trump Organization’s veteran former chief financial officer is expected to be the star witness in the upcoming criminal tax fraud trial against the company, the report says.
Allen Weisselberg, 75, who has worked for the company for decades, is called to testify about former President Donald Trump’s business. bloomberg report.
The complex jury selection for the trial begins Monday in Manhattan. , Per Washington Post.
Prosecutors allege the company engaged in a tax evasion scheme by rewarding senior management with perks such as apartments and company cars under Weisselberg’s supervision. not.
Weisselberg, who has long been one of Trump’s most loyal agents, plead guilty August counts 15 felonies, including fraud, conspiracy, grand theft, and conspiracy to commit criminal tax fraud, in exchange for up to five months in prison.
Under the terms of the plea, Weisselberg, Trump and his family’s loyal bookkeeper for 40 years, agreed to testify at the upcoming trial.
His attorney, Nicolas Grabante, told Bloomberg that he must testify honestly or his contract will be rescinded and he could face up to 15 years in prison.
“The world is going to see how the Trump Organization has run its business,” former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuaid, who teaches at the University of Michigan Law School, told Bloomberg.
“This is a serious case. Criminal charges are against Trump’s company, which is a small private company, while Donald Trump is the Trump Organization.”
Sources familiar with Weisselberg’s ideas was told before Insider Laura Italiano has no intention of implicating anyone in the Trump family as part of his testimony or cooperating with the Manhattan District Attorney’s ongoing Trump Organization investigation.
Bloomberg said Weisselberg received many benefits during his time working for the Trump Organization, including an apartment, a Mercedes-Benz and tuition fees for his grandchildren’s private schools. Prosecutors say these should have been taxed like income.
According to Bloomberg, prosecutors will likely ask him if other senior executives, including Trump’s children, have received similar benefits.
Manhattan prosecutor ‘Flipping’ long-time Trump executives as part of a three-year investigation into possible financial misconduct against Trump and his company.
If the Trump Organization is found guilty, it will have to pay back taxes and fines totaling about $1.6 million.
Read the original article at business insider