The Trump Organization was sentenced this Friday, January 13, in New York City to a maximum fine of $1.6 million. The former U.S. president’s family business has been found guilty of financial and tax fraud and falsified accounting records, the first felony for the group, which faces an even bigger civil trial in 2023.
The American billionaire’s group would like to hide from the tax authorities the financial rewards of some top managers. “Former President Trump’s businesses were fined the maximum fines allowed by law today, following historic convictions for 17 misdemeanors.”welcomed Attorney Alvin Bragg in a press release.
Former CFO pleads guilty to 15 counts
The Trump Organization has been accused of providing financial or non-monetary benefits to senior executives, hiding them from the tax authorities to avoid paying taxes, from 2005 to 2018. Among them is the company’s historic former CFO Allen Weisselberg. guilty on 15 counts and was sentenced on Tuesday in the same case to five months in prison and more than two million dollars in fines.
The Trump Organization had already said on Dec. 6, when it was declared guilty through one of its lawyers, Susan Necheles, that it would file an appeal seeking to indict Allen Weisselberg, assuring that he himself “stated under oath that he had betrayed the trust of the company.”
Donald Trump, who repeatedly denounced “witch-hunt”has not been personally involved in this lawsuit and is not indicted in any court case at this stage, but he sees cases pile up in court as he addresses the 2024 GOP nomination race. Unless he’s a criminal, however, the billionaire is due in civil court in New York, where three of his children, Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka, are charged with tax fraud under the Trump Organization.
In this case, New York State Attorney General Letitia James accuses the Trump family of “deliberately” manipulated the valuation of the group’s assets in order to obtain better bank loans or lower taxes. She demands compensation from the state in the amount of $ 250 million, as well as a ban on the management of companies for the ex-president and his relatives.
Source: TF1