[WonderMomma]

Trump Organization found guilty of tax fraud scheme

Source: https://www.reuters.com/legal/jury-r...al-2022-12-06/

December 6, 2022, 10:45 PM EST

NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's real estate company was convicted on Tuesday of carrying out a 15-year-long criminal scheme to defraud tax authorities, adding to the legal woes facing the former U.S. president as he campaigns for the office again in 2024.

The Trump Organization - which operates hotels, golf courses, and other real estate around the world - was found guilty of paying personal expenses for top executives including former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, and issuing bonus checks to them as if they were independent contractors.

The company faces up to $1.6 million in fines after being convicted on all charges, including scheming to defraud tax authorities, conspiracy and falsifying business records. Trump was not charged in the case.

Justice Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial in state court in New York, set a sentencing date for Jan. 13.

While the fine is not expected to be material for a company of the Trump Organization's size, the conviction could complicate its ability to do business.

Weisselberg, 75, testified as the government's star witness as part of a plea deal that calls for a sentence of five months in jail.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office prosecuted the case, called the verdict "very just."

"The former president's companies now stand convicted of crimes," Bragg said in the New York courthouse after the verdict, speaking of the Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corporation, the two units of the Trump Organization which were convicted.

Asked if he regretted not charging Trump in the case, Bragg did not respond.

He has said that the office's investigation into Trump is continuing.

APPEAL
Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, said the company would appeal and that the criminal law governing corporate liability was vague.

"It was central to the case," he told reporters after the verdict.

The jury deliberated for about 12 hours over two days.

The case centered on charges that the company paid personal expenses like free rent and car leases for executives including Weisselberg without reporting the income, and gave them bonuses as non-employee compensation from other Trump entities like the Mar-a-lago Club, without deducting taxes.

According to testimony during the four-week trial, Trump himself signed the bonus checks annually, paid private school tuition for Weisselberg's grandchildren, authorized the lease for his luxury Manhattan apartment and approved a salary deduction for another executive.

"The whole narrative that Donald Trump was blissfully ignorant is just not real, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told jurors during his closing argument on Friday.

He said the "smorgasbord of benefits" was designed to keep top executives "happy and loyal."

Republican Trump, who on Nov. 15 announced his third campaign for the presidency, said in a statement he was "disappointed" by the verdict but called the case a "Manhattan witch hunt." Both Bragg and his predecessor who brought the charges, Cyrus Vance, are Democrats.

SEPARATE LAWSUIT
The Trump Organization separately faces a fraud lawsuit brought by New York state Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump himself is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice over his handling of sensitive government documents after he left office in January 2021 and attempts to overturn the November 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Lawyers for the Trump Organization argued that Weisselberg carried out the scheme to benefit himself, not the company. They tried to paint him as a rogue employee. Weisselberg is currently on paid leave and testified that he hopes to get another $500,000 bonus in January

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Nov. 19. that his family got "no economic gain from the acts done by the executive."

Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty in August to concealing $1.76 million in income from tax authorities, testified that although Trump signed checks involved, he did not conspire with him.

He said that the company saved money by paying for his rent, utilities, Mercedes-Benz car leases for him and his wife and other personal expenses rather than raising his salary, because a wage hike would have had to account for taxes.

He said Trump's two sons - who took over the company's operations in 2017 - gave him a raise after they knew about his tax dodge scheme.

By then, Trump was president, and the company was preparing for greater scrutiny.

"We were going through an entire cleanup process of the company to make sure that since Mr. Trump is now president everything was being done properly," Weisselberg testified.

Other sources:
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics...unts-tax-fraud
https://www.npr.org/2022/12/06/11407...inal-tax-fraud
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...heme-rcna60326
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/06/polit...ict/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/12...-trial-verdict
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisond...h=6a96e2467e73
https://apnews.com/article/business-...0d8b78eb1ed397
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/1...trial-00072609
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...dict-tax-fraud
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politic...top-executives
https://nypost.com/2022/12/06/trump-...ax-fraud-case/

and so on...
NOTE: the picture below is from a post about this on Telegram. Not the Reuters article.

[foxfantastic]

And nobody was surprised or even cared at this point

I'll say one thing for this terrible miscalculation of a trainwreck collectively known as "Trump". He either has a crackerjack defense team or he himself understands how to play the judicial system and the media like a harp from hell because he can tai up a case for DECADES, until it gets to the point where even if he is found guilty, everyone is so sick to death of hearing about it that they don't even give a shit anymore.

[xuaeded]

Trump is such a doofus

[kbb_kkb]

Fym trump is the best leader of America

[foxfantastic]

Originally Posted by kbb_kkb ↗

Fym trump is the best leader of America

A joke, I'm sure, and not a very good one at that.

[williesco3]

And the witch-hunt continues, but nobody cares anymore.

[Eggs&Spam]

This story disappeared quick.

[Massacreman]

Yeah, and Twitter covered for every major democratic scandal they possibly could, and yet no one talks about them.

[Pyramid_Head]

Is anyone really surprised? This is what rich people do.

[Patriotpride16t]

When he is finally sent to prison, I really hope he gets ass banged daily!
Then he’ll say something like “I’ve got a magnificent ass! Look how many me n want to fuck me! Not everyone is fuckable like me! It’s really incredible, my ass. I’m Making America Great Again by using my terrific ass. You can’t build an ass like this. I lost all my money, my job, my freedom, my friends, my integrity, my family…but these inmates still love my ass…my wonderful ass…greatest ass of all time!!”