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Trump executive pleads guilty to tax fraud and will testify at upcoming trial

#Trump #executive #pleads #guilty #tax #fraud #testify #upcoming #trial

Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer, pleaded guilty to tax fraud on Thursday and agreed to testify at an upcoming criminal trial against the former US president’s real estate company.

Weisselberg, 75, who served as CFO of the Trump Organization from 2005 to 2021, pleaded guilty to 15 counts of tax fraud, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.

Weisselberg admitted his involvement in a 15-year scheme with co-defendant, the Trump Organization, to defraud federal, New York State and New York City tax authorities, Bragg said.

Weisselberg is to serve five months in prison contingent on testifying truthfully at the Trump Organization’s tax fraud trial in October, Bragg said.

Weisselberg has steadfastly refused to personally testify against Donald Trump. Trump, 76, was president and owner of the Trump Organization until 2017, when he moved into the White House.

However, the former executive of the Trump Organization could face an additional jail term if he fails to testify in the criminal case against the real estate company.

Jury selection in the Trump Organization tax fraud trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 24, Bragg said.

In the plea agreement, Weisselberg admitted to evading payment of taxes on $1.76 million in unreported earnings. He has nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest to pay back.

“Today Allen Weisselberg admitted in court that he used his position at the Trump Organization to defraud taxpayers and enrich himself,” Bragg said.

“Weisselberg let the Trump Organization provide him with a rent-free apartment, expensive cars, private schooling for his grandchildren, and new furniture — all without paying the necessary taxes,” he said.

“This agreement directly implicates the Trump Organization in a variety of criminal activities and requires Weisselberg to provide invaluable testimony against the company in the upcoming trial,” he said. “We look forward to proving our case in court against the Trump Organization.”

– litigation –

Trump’s business practices are the subject of a separate investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James, and the former president was questioned for more than four hours last week in connection with that investigation.

According to US press reports, Trump, who is targeting another White House run in 2024, invoked his legal right not to answer questions more than 400 times during his testimony with James.

James suspects that the Trump Organization fraudulently overstated the value of real estate when applying for bank loans, while understating it to tax authorities in order to pay less taxes.

The New York cases are among the myriad of legal battles faced by the former president.

FBI agents searched his palatial residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida on Aug. 8 and seized documents marked “Top Secret,” “Secret,” and “Confidential.”

The search warrant for the raid, personally approved by Attorney General Merrick Garland, directed the FBI to seize documents and records that were “illegally possessed,” in violation of three criminal statutes, including one that falls under the Espionage Act, which it illegally obtaining or retaining national security information.

Trump has vehemently denounced the FBI raid on his home as a “witch hunt” and claimed all material seized in the search had previously been “declassified.”

Trump also faces legal scrutiny over his efforts to overturn the results of the November 2020 election and his supporters’ January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

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