New York prosecutors set the stage for the criminal tax fraud trial of the Trump Organization on Monday, telling jurors that the case is about “greed and deception.”
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger laid out an alleged 15-year scheme within the Trump Organization. to pay high-level executives perks like luxury cars and apartments without paying taxes on them.
Two Trump Organization entities have been indicted on nine counts of tax fraud, grand theft and falsifying business records, in what prosecutors allege is a 15-year scheme to defraud tax authorities by failing to report and pay taxes on compensation provided to employees.
The scheme, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, was orchestrated by the company’s longtime CFO, Allen Weiselberg, the top executive who handled the company’s books. Prosecutors allege that companies benefited from the scheme by paying less tax on workers’ wages while keeping their longtime employees happy.
“At the end of the day, keeping the trusted CFO by paying him more without being taxed on that income, that was also a benefit to these companies,” Hofiger said during her opening statement.
The jury will see portions of former President Donald Trump’s personal ledger and checks he signed from his personal account to pay tuition for Weiselberg’s grandchildren over the years, the prosecutor said.
Trump is not a defendant in the case and is not expected to face any wrongdoing, but the charges against the real estate business he built from the ground up are the closest any prosecutor has come to Trump, and the political overtones of the case have irked the former president. say people in the know.
“Donald Trump did not know that Allen Weiselberg was cheating on Allen Weiselberg’s personal tax returns. The evidence will be clear on that,” said defense attorney Susan Necheles.
He also warned jurors to leave their political views out of their deliberations.
“You should not view this case as a referendum on President Trump or his policies. This kind of thing has no place in our criminal justice system,” Necheles said.
The defense team for both Trump companies told jurors that the indictment alleges fraud on personal tax forms by the Trump Org. employees, distancing the companies from Weisselberg’s admitted fraudulent conduct.
If convicted, the Trump Organization. he would have faced a maximum fine of $1.6 million – the most allowed under New York state law for the alleged conduct. The company would not be dissolved or face any other consequences.
Defense attorneys pinned the entire criminal case on Weiselberg, the star of the prosecution, who agreed to plead guilty to 15 charges in exchange for a light prison sentence.
Weiselberg, who is required to testify at trial as a condition of the plea deal, will say whatever he needs to, feeling the pressure to potentially lose his lavish lifestyle, according to Neheles.
Weiselberg pleaded guilty in August to failing to pay taxes on $1.7 million in compensation he received in the form of a company-financed apartment in New York. Weisselberg has been meeting with Manhattan prosecutors and lawyers in recent weeks to prepare his testimony.
He is expected to serve five months or less in prison as a result of the plea deal, Necheles said.
“It started with Allen Weisselberg and ended with Allen Weisselberg,” Necheles said. “Allen Weisselberg caused the company to do something illegal with the intent to benefit Allen Weisselberg, his friend, or his son.”
Necheles also said the Trump Corporation relied on tax experts who never informed the company’s top executives that the executives were doing something improper in not reporting “present benefits” on their tax forms.
Weiselberg, who has worked for the Trump family for nearly 50 years, has not been expelled from the fold despite his crimes, according to defense attorney Michael van der Veen. Weisselberg is still being paid by the company, although he has been placed on leave.
“Everyone trusted him. He was trusted with the protection of this company. He was trusted to run the accounting department properly. He was given enormous independent autonomy to carry out his work. They trusted him to get his personal affairs in order,” van der Veen said.
The trial day got off to a slow start thanks to a no-show juror who was eventually dismissed. The dismissed juror was an alternate, so six alternates became five.
Trump Organization Vice President and Comptroller Jeffrey McConnell took the stand as the prosecution’s first witness. Judge Juan Mercan rejected a request by the prosecution to call McConney a negative witness.
McConney testified that he had been granted immunity to testify at trial because his own actions as an auditor are related to the charges. McConey did not cooperate or meet with prosecutors before testifying, but did meet with a defense attorney as recently as Sunday, he said.
Judge Merchan also rejected a request by the prosecution to bar McConney from speaking to defense lawyers between his court testimony.
Prosecutors admitted to more than 100 Trump Organizations. financial documents in evidence, including the general ledgers of the Trump Organization. transactions for defense objection. McConney walked through the format of the ledgers reporting years of transactions and explained the payroll process for the Trump Org. – function that no longer supervises.
McConney is expected to continue testifying Tuesday morning.
