The entrance to Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue is pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York City, May 19, 2021.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
Two subsidiaries of the Trump Organization were convicted on Tuesday by a New York City grand jury on multiple counts, including tax fraud, falsifying business records and conspiracy.
The guilty verdicts on all 17 counts came weeks after the company’s owner, the former Republican President Donald Trumpdeclare his candidacy for the White House in the 2024 election.
Trump is not personally the defendant in the casewas related to his company’s plan to avoid taxes on compensation in the form of perks including free apartments and luxury cars for the company. then CFO was Allen Weisselberg and other executives since 2005.
But a prosecutor during the debates last weekend said Trump “knew exactly what was going on.”
A jury in Manhattan Supreme Court began discussing the case on Monday following a trial that featured testimony from Weisselberg, the only person actually charged in the case.
Defense attorneys argued that Weisselberg – who had previously pleaded guilty to 15 felony counts – was solely responsible for the scheme, not the Trump Organization.
Trump’s company faces a fine of up to $1.6 million upon sentencing in the case. Guilty convictions can also harm a company’s ability to obtain loans for various real estate holdings and other business ventures,
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg leaves the courtroom at Manhattan Criminal Court following the verdict during the Trump Organization’s tax crimes trial in New York City, December 6, 2022.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
Trump, his three adult children and the Trump Organization still face a pending civil lawsuit by New York Attorney General Letitia James that widespread fraud allegations involving years of false financial statements related to the company. James is seeking at least $250 million in damages in that case.
One of the subsidiaries charged in the criminal case, the Trump Corporation, was convicted of nine counts. The other defendant, Trump Payroll Corporation, was convicted of the remaining seven counts.
Trump, in a post on his Truth Social account Tuesday before the rulings were announced, misrepresented the crime rate in his native New York City as he criticized the Manhattan District Attorney. Alvin Bragg for prosecuting his company.
“Homicide and violence are at an all-time high in NYC, and the DA office has spent nearly all of its time and money fighting the Political Witch Hunt for DC against ‘Trump’. for fringe interests,” Trump wrote.
The former president is at the center of many criminal investigationsincluding federal investigations into his removal of government documents from the White House and his efforts to reverse his 2020 election defeat to President Joe Biden.
A state grand jury in Georgia is investigating Trump and his allies over their efforts to send election officials there to reverse his defeat in the state to Biden.
