NEW YORK, Jan 13 (Reuters) – Donald Trump on Friday will learn how the company that bears the former U.S. president’s name will be punished after being found guilty of scheming to defraud tax authorities for 15 years.
A New York state judge will impose the sentence after jurors in Manhattan found two Trump Organization affiliates guilty of 17 criminal charges last month.
The sentencing comes three days after Justice Juan Merchan of the Manhattan criminal court ordered Allen Weisselberg, who worked for Trump’s family for a half-century and was the company’s former chief financial officer, to jail for five months after he testified as the prosecution’s star witness.
Trump’s company faces only a maximum $1.6 million penalty, but has said it plans to appeal. No one else was charged or faces jail time in the case. The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who caused the incident, is still conducting a criminal investigation into Trump’s business practices.
Bill Black, a white-collar crime professor at the University of Missouri’s Kansas City School of Law, called the expected verdict “a rounding error” and “not deterring” others, including Trump.
“It’s a farce,” he said. “No one will stop committing such crimes because of this verdict.”
The case was the bane of the former Republican president, who describes him as part of a witch hunt by Democrats who hate him and his policies.
Trump is also facing a $250 million civil lawsuit from Attorney General Letitia James that claims he and his adult children Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump will be charged for the loans. and accuses him of inflating the value of his net worth and the company’s assets in order to save money on insurance. Bragg and James are Democrats, as is Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance, who filed a criminal complaint. After losing his bid for re-election in 2020, Trump is aiming to run for president in 2024.
During the four-week trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Trump’s company paid executives for personal expenses, such as rent and car leases, without declaring them as income, and that Christmas bonuses were paid to employees. argued not.
Trump himself signed a bonus check, as well as a lease for a luxury Manhattan apartment in Weisselberg and private school fees for the CFO’s grandchildren, prosecutors said.
Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steingras told jurors in closing arguments, “Anything about Donald Trump’s fortunate ignorance is untrue. Weisselberg’s testimony helped denounce the company, but Trump said he was not part of a fraud scheme.He also refused to help Bragg conduct a broader investigation into Trump.
The Trump Organization put Weisselberg on paid leave until they cut ties this week. His attorney said the split, announced Tuesday, was amicable.
The 75-year-old Weisselberg is serving time in New York’s infamous Rikers Island Prison. State law limits the penalties Judge Marchan can impose on Trump’s firm. Companies can be fined up to $250,000 for each tax-related count and up to $10,000 for each non-tax-related count.
Trump’s actions include investigations related to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, retention of classified documents after leaving the White House, and efforts to reverse his 2020 Georgia election loss. I am facing some other legal issues.
