[US] Trump Organization’s CFO testifies at company fraud trial

On November 15, as part of the ongoing Trump Organization fraud trial, the company’s long-time finance chief told jurors that he saved Donald Trump‘s company hundreds of thousands of dollars by scheming to evade taxes on company-paid perks, including a Manhattan apartment and luxury cars, The Globe and Mail reports.

Allen Weisselberg - the prosecution’s star witness - said he deducted the cost of the extras from his salary because doing so cost the company about half as much as it would have to give him a raise to cover those expenses.

In August Mr Weisselberg reportedly pleaded guilty to evading taxes on $1.7 million of fringe benefits. His plea agreement requires him to testify against the company in exchange for a five-month jail sentence.

In his testimony, Mr Weisselberg portrayed Mr Trump as a hands-on executive prior to his election to the White House in 2016 but did not implicate him in any wrongdoing.

He said Mr Trump encouraged him to move into a company-paid apartment in 2005 and signed off on a lease for the property. He also that said Mr Trump authorised him and his wife to receive Mercedes-Benz cars. Their leases were paid by the Trump Organization.

Mr Weisselberg - a senior adviser and former chief financial officer at the company - has intimate knowledge of the Trump Organization’s financial dealings from nearly five decades working there. However, he is not expected to implicate Trump or any members of the Trump family in his testimony.

Mr Weisselberg will remain free on bail until he is formally sentenced following the company’s trial.

The Trump Organization is the entity through which the former president manages his real estate holdings, marketing deals and other ventures. It is accused of helping some top executives avoid paying income taxes on the compensation they received in addition to their salaries over a 15-year span.

Prosecutors argue that the Trump Organization – through its subsidiaries Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp. – is liable for the scheme because Mr Weisselberg, the long-time finance chief, was a “high managerial agent” entrusted to act on behalf of the company and its various entities.

When he entered his guilty plea, Mr Weisselberg reportedly laid blame on himself and other top company executives, including senior vice president and controller Jeffrey McConney, who testified for the trial’s first five days.

The Trump Organization has denied wrongdoing. Its lawyers allege that Mr Weisselberg concocted the scheme on his own, without Mr Trump’s or the Trump family’s knowledge, and say the company didn’t benefit from his actions. If convicted, the company could be fined more than $1 million.

The company’s lawyers spent part of Monday and Tuesday’s court sessions attempting to preempt Weisselberg’s testimony, using their cross-examination questioning to underscore their assertion that others at the company, including Mr Trump, knew nothing about the scheme.

At present, Mr Weisselberg is the only person to face criminal charges in the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation of the company.

Mr Weisselberg started working for the Trump Organization in 1973, when it was run by Mr Trump’s father, Fred. Following his July 2021 arrest, the company changed his title from CFO to senior adviser. The CFO position remains vacant.

Prosecutors reportedly alleged that the Trump Organization gave untaxed fringe benefits to senior executives, including Mr Weisselberg, for 15 years. Mr Weisselberg alone was accused of defrauding the federal government, state and city out of more than $900,000 in unpaid taxes and undeserved tax refunds.

On November 15, as part of the ongoing Trump Organization fraud trial, the company’s long-time finance chief told jurors that he saved Donald Trump‘s company hundreds of thousands of dollars by scheming to evade taxes on company-paid perks, including a Manhattan apartment and luxury cars, The Globe and Mail reports.

Allen Weisselberg - the prosecution’s star witness - said he deducted the cost of the extras from his salary because doing so cost the company about half as much as it would have to give him a raise to cover those expenses.

In August Mr Weisselberg reportedly pleaded guilty to evading taxes on $1.7 million of fringe benefits. His plea agreement requires him to testify against the company in exchange for a five-month jail sentence.

In his testimony, Mr Weisselberg portrayed Mr Trump as a hands-on executive prior to his election to the White House in 2016 but did not implicate him in any wrongdoing.

He said Mr Trump encouraged him to move into a company-paid apartment in 2005 and signed off on a lease for the property. He also that said Mr Trump authorised him and his wife to receive Mercedes-Benz cars. Their leases were paid by the Trump Organization.

Mr Weisselberg - a senior adviser and former chief financial officer at the company - has intimate knowledge of the Trump Organization’s financial dealings from nearly five decades working there. However, he is not expected to implicate Trump or any members of the Trump family in his testimony.

Mr Weisselberg will remain free on bail until he is formally sentenced following the company’s trial.

The Trump Organization is the entity through which the former president manages his real estate holdings, marketing deals and other ventures. It is accused of helping some top executives avoid paying income taxes on the compensation they received in addition to their salaries over a 15-year span.

Prosecutors argue that the Trump Organization – through its subsidiaries Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp. – is liable for the scheme because Mr Weisselberg, the long-time finance chief, was a “high managerial agent” entrusted to act on behalf of the company and its various entities.

When he entered his guilty plea, Mr Weisselberg reportedly laid blame on himself and other top company executives, including senior vice president and controller Jeffrey McConney, who testified for the trial’s first five days.

The Trump Organization has denied wrongdoing. Its lawyers allege that Mr Weisselberg concocted the scheme on his own, without Mr Trump’s or the Trump family’s knowledge, and say the company didn’t benefit from his actions. If convicted, the company could be fined more than $1 million.

The company’s lawyers spent part of Monday and Tuesday’s court sessions attempting to preempt Weisselberg’s testimony, using their cross-examination questioning to underscore their assertion that others at the company, including Mr Trump, knew nothing about the scheme.

At present, Mr Weisselberg is the only person to face criminal charges in the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation of the company.

Mr Weisselberg started working for the Trump Organization in 1973, when it was run by Mr Trump’s father, Fred. Following his July 2021 arrest, the company changed his title from CFO to senior adviser. The CFO position remains vacant.

Prosecutors reportedly alleged that the Trump Organization gave untaxed fringe benefits to senior executives, including Mr Weisselberg, for 15 years. Mr Weisselberg alone was accused of defrauding the federal government, state and city out of more than $900,000 in unpaid taxes and undeserved tax refunds.