Allen Weisselberg, the longtime chief financial officer at the Trump Organization, is still facing a variety of criminal charges related to tax evasion allegations after he failed in New York court this week at getting the charges dismissed.
Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan rejected arguments from Weisselberg that insufficient evidence underlined his charges. Weisselberg’s lawyers also previously suggested Weisselberg’s prosecution was the result of vendetta-fueled witness testimony from someone who, although apparently unnamed in publicly available arguments, sounds like Michael Cohen. Revelations from Cohen sat behind key investigative efforts targeting the Trump Organization, including the Manhattan-based criminal investigation that culminated in part in the criminal charges against Weisselberg in a case in which the Trump company itself was included as a co-defendant. Weisselberg stands accused of evading the required taxes on hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits related to his work for Trump.
Over 15 years, Weisselberg allegedly benefited from $359,058 covering tuition costs for multiple family members of his, $196,245 for car lease charges, $29,400 in unreported cash, and coverage for a variety of personal expenses. The Trump company characterized the charges, which were filed by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, as a case “neither the IRS nor any other District Attorney would ever think of bringing.” The district attorney’s team says the case “at its core, is ordinary” — rather than an angry, anti-Trump political initiative. The Trump company and a connected company dealing with payroll saw a charge of criminal tax fraud in the fourth degree dismissed — seemingly with prosecutors’ agreement because of the relevant statute of limitations, but all of Weisselberg’s charges evidently stand after motions to dismiss failed. Weisselberg’s trial is scheduled for the near future, with jury selection slated to begin October 24.
Weisselberg’s charges, as reported by Law&Crime, include conspiracy, grand larceny, criminal tax fraud, and falsifying business records. Previous revelations from Cohen also sit behind a civil investigation into the Trump family business from New York state Attorney General Letitia James, whose probe is focusing on issues including the Trump Organization’s apparent deceptive representations of values of key assets, including conservation easements at Trump-owned properties in California and New York. Those deceptive valuations were posed to provide financial benefits for the Trump company like tax breaks, which the company obtained through providing the deceptive values for the conservation easements to tax authorities.
After losing a multi-stage judicial fight to stop depositions of himself and two of his adult children, the former president recently sat for questioning in the James investigation — and pleaded the Fifth Amendment over 400 times. This week’s hearing in the Manhattan criminal case at which Weisselberg lost his attempt to undo the charges against him was the first time he and the Trump Organization appeared in court in this case in almost a year. Another hearing in the case will be taking place September 12, where a motion from Weisselberg will be deliberated over. The Trump exec’s push is to suppress statements he made while initially in custody in July of last year from usage in the proceedings against him. At that time, he evidently admitted to living in Manhattan — within the bounds of New York City — since 2005, and spoke of the cost of education, which he seemingly defensively referred to as “expensive.”
In the meantime, Merchan indicated a written order outlining his decision-making process regarding this week’s matters would be forthcoming. Weisselberg’s indictment includes 15 felony criminal charges. He is also accused of hiding his New York City residency and thereby evading city income taxes.
