“Yes, your Honor,” was muttered by Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s chief executive, in New York State’s Supreme Court, when responding to whether he pleaded guilty to 15 criminal tax fraud charges against him, and the Trump Organization, alleging that he evaded federal, state and local taxes.
Weisselberg, 75, was the Trump family’s 50-year chief financial officer.
He admitted that he personally left out $1.7 million of his reported income on his tax returns between 2005 and 2021. He has been ordered to repay the omission, plus interest, a total of $1,994,321.
“The purpose of the scheme was to compensate Weisselberg and other Trump Organization executives in a manner that was ‘off the books’: the beneficiaries of the scheme received substantial portions of their income through indirect and disguised means, with compensation that was unreported or misreported by [the Trump Organization] to the tax authorities,” the indictment stated.
Weisselberg accepted a plea deal, and he is required to tell the truth in the criminal fraud trial against the Trump Organization, which is scheduled for October.
He didn’t rat on Donald Trump today. Will he ‘spill the beans’ in October? He has not agreed in the plea deal to testify against the former president himself.
Weisselberg will be sentenced in November and he is expected to get five months in prison and five years probation, although it’s possible that he would only spend 100 days in prison if his sentence is reduced for “good behavior.” Sentencing, however, will not occur until after the Trump Organization trial, when it is determined to what extent he follows through with his plea deal promises.
The indictment by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said that Weisselberg and the Trump Organization schemed together to underreport or omit employment compensation to the IRS, state and local tax authorities.
The indictment says that the Trump organization was paying for Weisselberg’s Upper West Side NYC apartment, covering tuition payments for his grandchildren, and making Mercedes car payments for him and his wife, all unreported as income on his tax forms.
The Trump Organization, under the direction of Weisselberg, allegedly didn’t deduct income taxes on those bonuses, paid to Weisselberg, as well as other employees.
Donald Trump called the probe by Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, and a civil case by New York Attorney General, Letitia James, politically-motivated ‘witch hunts,’ even though Weisselberg admitted to tax fraud.
