The Trump Organization’s chief executive pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court on Thursday, to 15 criminal tax fraud charges against him and the Trump Organization.
Allen Weisselberg accepted a plea deal, which requires him to tell the truth in the criminal fraud trial against the Trump Organization, which is scheduled for October. However, he did not agree to implicate Donald Trump personally in that trial.
Weisselberg, 75, has a 50-year history of working with the Trump family, and was the chief financial officer in the Trump Organization.
He admitted that he personally omitted $1.7 million of his reported income on his tax returns between the years 2005 and 2021. He must now repay the omission, plus interest, a total of $1,994,321.
He admitted to charges that he had participated in a scheme to cheat the government of tax revenue.
“The purpose of the scheme was to compensate Weisselberg and other Trump Organization executives in a manner that was ‘off the books’: the beneficiaries of the scheme received substantial portions of their income through indirect and disguised means, with compensation that was unreported or misreported by [the Trump Organization] to the tax authorities,” the indictment from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office stated.
Weisselberg didn’t rat on Donald Trump Thursday. Will he do so in October? That’s the big question. The thought of five months in Riker’s Island could change the mind of the 75-year-old man.
The sentence will be decided most likely in November, and he is expected to get five months in prison, and five years probation, although it’s possible that he would only spend 100 days in prison if his sentence is reduced for “good behavior.” The sentencing is going to occur after the next trial, at which point it will be determined whether or not he followed through with the plea deal agreement.
The indictment says that the Trump organization was paying for Weisselberg’s Upper West Side NYC apartment, covering tuition payments for his grandchildren, and reimbursing him for Mercedes car payments for him and his wife, all unreported as income on his tax forms.
The unreported bonuses were not only to Weisselberg, but to other employees as well, as income taxes were not deducted or paid to the government.
Even 100 days on Riker’s Island would not be considered a vacation, no matter how well he is treated there.
