Former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty on Thursday to a number of charges related to the Trump Org avoiding taxes. The Manhattan District Attorney’s attempts to flip former President Donald Trump’s loyal money man have officially failed, as the tax-dodging ex-chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg took a plea deal Thursday morning and won’t testify against his lifelong boss. Instead, he’ll get what some might consider a sweetheart deal for a 75-year-old man who kept his lips shut and wouldn’t implicate his old boss: six months or less behind bars. His legal team expects him to realistically spend three months in prison, and he will face five years of probation after serving his sentence. He will also have to pay back $1,994,321 in taxes he owed, prosecutors said in court. In return, Weisselberg has also agreed to openly testify about the way the Trump Organization rewarded him with untaxed corporate perks for years in the form of expensive tuition payments for his grandkids at a top-tier Manhattan private school, a luxury car to use anytime he wished, and a fully-paid swanky apartment overlooking Central Park. His testimony could prove pivotal to convicting the corporation, which would be forced to pay fines and would reflect negatively on the Trump family company—not that it would make a difference politically to MAGA devotees.
via daily beast: Trump’s Money Man Allen Weisselberg Pleads Guilty
siehe auch: Former CFO of Trump Organization pleads guilty for his role in tax fraud scheme and agrees to testify against company. Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, pleaded guilty Thursday to his role in a 15-year-long tax fraud scheme, and as part of the deal he has agreed to testify against former President Donald Trump’s real estate company at trial. In court Thursday, Weisselberg said, “Yes, your honor” when asked if he was pleading guilty of his own choice. Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 felonies and admitted he failed to pay taxes on $1.7 million in income, including luxury perks, such as rent and utilities for a Manhattan apartment, leases for a pair of Mercedes-Benz cars and private school tuition for his grandchildren. He admitted to concealing those benefits from his accountant to under-report his income and knowingly omitting the income from his personal tax returns. Weisselberg answered a series of specific questions about the scheme from the judge in a hushed and barely audible tone, saying “Yes, your honor” repeatedly. As part of the deal, he will pay nearly $2 million in back taxes, interest and penalties and waive any right to appeal.