Donald Trump’s company was found guilty Tuesday of tax fraud in a scheme hatched by the company's top executives, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced.
Bragg's office announced the convictions of The Trump Corporation and The Trump Payroll Corp,, "for engaging in a 13-year scheme to defraud, as well as for conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records."
Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for the Trump Organization said the company would appeal. He said the law permitting for a guilty verdict if executives took criminal acts “in behalf of” the company was vague.
Bragg's office continued, "The evidence presented to the jury showed these two companies perpetrated a sophisticated tax fraud scheme that was carried out for more than a decade at the Trump Tower offices by the companies’ high managerial agents Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg and Controller Jeffrey McConney, acting within the scope of their employment and in behalf of the corporations."
“This was a case about greed and cheating. In Manhattan, no corporation is above the law,” said Bragg. “For 13 years the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation got away with a scheme that awarded high-level executives with lavish perks and compensation while intentionally concealing the benefits from the taxing authorities to avoid paying taxes.
Weisselberg, who previously pleaded guilty to 15 criminal charges, testified at trial implicating both The Trump Corporation and The Trump Payroll Corp., and will be sentenced separately to jail for his role in the tax fraud scheme in the coming weeks.
These all-count convictions mark the first-ever criminal convictions of former President Trump’s companies.
THE TRUMP CORPORATION and THE TRUMP PAYROLL CORP. were each convicted by a New York State Supreme Court jury of:
Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, a class E felony, one count
Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony, one count
Criminal Tax Fraud in Third Degree, a class D felony, two counts
Criminal Tax Fraud in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony, one count
Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, a class E felony, three counts
THE TRUMP CORPORATION was also convicted of an additional count of:
Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, a class E felony
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