Trump Organization fined $1.6 million for long-running tax fraud scheme
The Trump Organization was sentenced to a $1.6 million fine for a long-running tax fraud scheme involving former Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg.
The Trump Organization was hit with $1.6 million in fines Friday when a New York judge sentenced it for running a 15-year tax fraud scheme that prosecutors said top executives at the company orchestrated out of pure greed.
Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp. — both subsidiaries of the Trump Organization — were convicted last month on 17 counts, including conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said after the verdict that for too long the companies had gotten away "with a scheme that awarded high-level executives with lavish perks and compensation while intentionally concealing the benefits from the taxing authorities to avoid paying taxes." He said the verdicts held them to account “for their long-running criminal scheme.”
The lone person charged in the scheme was the company's former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg.
Weisselberg, 75, pleaded guilty in August and became the prosecution's star witness during the weekslong trial, where he described how top employees and the company evaded paying taxes they owed.
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