New York CNN –
Two Trump Organization entities will be sentenced by a New York judge on Friday for running a decade-long tax fraud scheme, a symbolic moment because it is the only criminal conviction that comes close to former President Donald Trump.
Trump’s two organizations, The Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp., were convicted last month of 17 felonies, including tax fraud and falsifying business records.
Under New York law, the maximum fine companies can be fined is about $1.6 million, a penalty the Trump Organization can easily afford.
The real estate business is not in danger of collapse because there is no mechanism by law to close the company. No one will go to jail based on a jury verdict. However, a felony conviction could affect the Trump Organization’s reputation and ability to do business or receive loans or contracts.
Trump and his family were not charged in the case, but the former president was mentioned repeatedly during the trial by prosecutors for his connection to tax-free benefits doled out to certain executives, including company-financed apartments, car leases and personal expenses. One prosecutor said Trump had “expressly sanctioned” tax fraud.
One of the jurors told CNN that jurors saw a “culture of deception” in the Trump organization, but referred to Trump as a nondescript “Bob Smith” at times when talking about the company owner’s knowledge of the crimes in connection with the charges.
Earlier this week, Alan Weiselberg, the Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer, was sentenced to five months in prison as part of a deal he struck with prosecutors. Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 felony counts related to the tax fraud scheme and agreed to testify truthfully against the company at trial.
He remained on paid leave from the Trump Organization, where he was compensated just over $1 million a year, until Tuesday, when he was sentenced. Weisselberg received compensation that a person familiar with the deal called “generous.”
Judge Juan Murchan, who will decide the sentencing of the Trumps, said that if not for the deal, he would have given Weiselberg more time in prison after hearing the evidence at trial.
Murchan said he found most “offensive” the $6,000 paycheck Weiselberg made his wife, who never worked for Trump, so she could qualify for Social Security.
The sentence comes as the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office continues to investigate the company’s business practices.
Prosecutors are conducting a wide-ranging investigation, and in recent months their focus has shifted again to the company’s involvement in secret payments made to keep adult film star Stormy Daniels from going public with an affair with Trump just before the 2016 election, the report said. people familiar with the matter said. Trump has denied the affair.
Prosecutors are also looking into potential insurance fraud after new material came to light from the New York attorney general’s civil investigation into the accuracy of the Trump Organization’s financial statements, the people said.
The biggest threat facing the company right now may be New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million civil lawsuit alleging that Trump, his three oldest children, Weiselberg and others defrauded creditors , insurers and tax authorities, inflating the value of multiple Trump entities. properties for more than a decade.
In addition to the money, James, a Democrat, is seeking to permanently bar Trump and the children named in the lawsuit from serving as a director of a business incorporated in New York state. She also wants to revoke the Trump Organization’s corporate certificate, which, if granted by a judge, could effectively force the company to cease operations in New York state.
The judge overseeing the case appointed an independent monitor to review the Trump Organization’s financial statements and business decisions. He recently rejected requests to drop the case and said he was considering sanctioning Trump’s lawyers. The case is scheduled for October.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and said the case was politically motivated.
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