The real estate company of former US President Donald Trump has been found guilty of tax fraud in a New York court case. After about two days of deliberations, a jury found the company guilty on all 17 counts, Manhattan Attorney Alvin Bragg said on Tuesday.
The verdict will be announced on January 13, 2023. Ex-President Trump was not personally accused. However, according to Bragg, this is his group’s first criminal conviction. “This was a process of greed and fraud,” Bragg said. “In Manhattan, no business is above the law.”
New York State Attorney General Letitia James said, “We cannot have any tolerance for individuals or organizations who break the law to line their pockets.” Trump Organization lawyers said they would appeal.
Luxury cars and expensive apartments
In addition to the Trump Organization and another Trump company facing charges, the group’s longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg, who had already pleaded guilty, was charged. He had testified that he and other employees had systematically defrauded the tax authorities for years. Monetary benefits such as luxury cars and expensive apartments were not taxed. With his confession, the 75-year-old escaped a possible prison sentence of up to 15 years. Instead, he was ordered to pay a total of nearly $2 million in taxes and fines owed and received five months in prison and an additional five years of probation.
The Trump Organization and another accused company in the group could be fined up to $1.7 million. Although the amount would not really hurt the company, the image of the group could seriously suffer. And Trump himself could also damage the verdict. Upon entering the White House in January 2017, the ex-president announced that he would be stepping down from his corporate group, which consists of a large number of companies. He had passed this on to Weisselberg and his sons Don Jr. and Eric Trump.
Trump is running again in the 2024 presidential election
Three weeks ago, Trump announced that he would run again as the Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election. However, after his party’s poor performance in the US midterm elections, he is considered politically weakened. Trump, who had loudly meddled in the election campaign with extreme positions and public support for right-wing candidates, was also blamed by his own party members for the Republicans winning fewer seats in Congress than expected in the so-called midterms. His party failed to win back the majority in the U.S. Senate and finished just ahead of the Democrats in the House of Representatives distribution.
Top secret documents seized
Elsewhere, Trump is in trouble: the FBI’s federal police searched his property in Mar-a-Lago on August 8 and seized confidential and sometimes top secret documents, among other things. Because Trump kept government papers, some of which are subject to strict protection due to their sensitive content, on his private property, it was investigated whether he might have broken the law. Trump denies the allegations and describes the authorities’ actions against him as a politically motivated attempt to strip him of another presidency.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
