The criminal conviction could interfere with the firms’ ability to get access to financing. And it will surely serve as fodder for Donald Trump’s rivals during his re-election campaign
, luxury apartments, expensive private-school tuition, furniture for a Florida home, flat-screen televisions, carpet and cheques stuffed into Christmas card envelopes. These untaxed, off-the-book perks were among the items paid by two entities of the Trump Organisation, Donald Trump’s real-estate company, to a handful of its top executives, including Allen Weisselberg, the company’s former chief financial officer who was Mr Trump’s long-serving lieutenant.
Mr Weisselberg was the prosecution’s star witness. He pleaded guilty to tax fraud and will serve just five months in jail. Before the trial, which was brought by Manhattan’s district attorney, he was granted immunity in exchange for testifying for the prosecution. During his summation Michael van der Veen, one of the defence lawyers , urged the jury to treat Mr Weisselberg’s testimony with scepticism because “the prosecution have him by the balls.
A tax trial is rarely interesting. But this one, which began in October after a three-year investigation, has been fascinating—notwithstanding pages of spreadsheets, excerpts from ledgers presented on two enormous screens in the courtroom and hours of testimony given by accountants. Mr Weisselburg testified that he knew he owed taxes on the perks and that his tax filings under-reported his income and were false. Importantly, he admitted that the scheme benefited both him and the companies.
Donald Bender, who managed the companies’ taxes for 35 years, as well as Mr Weisselberg’s personal accounts, said during his testimony that if he had known about the tax avoidance he “probably would have had a heart attack”. Mr Bender’s firm cut ties with the Trump Organisation earlier this year because the company’s statements could “no longer be relied upon”. Mr Trump blames Mr Bender for the mess.
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