Verdict reached in Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial

A Manhattan jury has reached a verdict in the criminal tax fraud trial of President Donald Trump’s namesake real estate company.

Two entities of the Trump Organization — the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation — are accused of paying the personal expenses of some executives without reporting them as income, and for compensating them as independent contractors instead of full-time employees. Each entity was charged with scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records.

Prosecutors believed the Trump Organization was culpable because the conduct of CFO Allen Weisselberg benefitted the company and because his position as CFO meant he was entrusted to act on the company’s behalf.

Weisselberg, who testified as part of a plea deal, pleaded guilty in August to charges that he skirted taxes on nearly $2 million in company-provided perks that included the rent on his Manhattan apartment, the leases on cars for himself and his wife and tuition for his grandchildren.

Weisselberg testified at trial that he reduced his reported salary by the total amount of the personal expenses that the company covered, and that the company benefitted by paying less in payroll taxes. He also testified that his primary motive was greed.

“The prosecution’s case rests on one thing: trying to convince you, the jurors, that Mr. Weisselberg’s actions were done in behalf of the company,” defense attorney Susan Necheles told the jury. “They were not. They were done solely to benefit himself. And that is the critical issue in this case.”

Prosecutors, however, insisted that the Trump Organization benefitted from Weisselberg’s tax dodge.

“By far the most significant benefit … is that it allowed these companies to pay their top executives less than they otherwise would have,” prosecutor Josh Steinglass told jurors.

Although Trump himself was not a defendant, his name came up repeatedly during the trial, and the jury saw checks he signed and memos he endorsed. The former president has publicly denied any wrongdoing.

Defense attorneys asked witnesses roughly 60 times about Trump’s knowledge of the tax scheme that his company was charged with, as they sought to show that Trump was in the dark about the fraud being committed by his top executives. Defense attorney Michael van der Veen said in his closing statement Friday that jurors “heard no evidence in this case that Mr. Trump or any of his children were aware of anything improper.”

But prosecutors contended that Trump explicitly sanctioned tax fraud when he signed off on part of the scheme.

“This whole narrative that Donald Trump is blissfully ignorant is just not true,” assistant district attorney Josh Steinglass said during his closing statement.

A conviction would carry fines of up to $1.7 million. But collateral consequences of a conviction may be more significant to Trump, who is seeking a second term in the White House. Banks could call in loans and business partners could cancel contracts if their internal policies prevent them from doing business with felons.

Even absent a conviction, the trial revealed potentially embarrassing details about Trump, including that he reported nearly $1 billion in operating losses over a two-year period in 2009 and 2010, as well as losses each year for the decade between 2009 and 2018 — some of the same years Trump was touting his business acumen on reality television and as he was campaigning for president.