Long-time Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg sentenced to 5 months in jail for tax fraud
- He had earlier pleaded guilty in a deal that saw him testify against his former company, helping prosecutors win a conviction on similar tax charges
- Weisselberg did not, however, implicate the former president, who is again seeking the White House in 2024, in any crime
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Allen Weisselberg, a long-time executive at the Trump Organization, was sentenced on Tuesday to five months in prison on charges of fraud and tax evasion.
Weisselberg, 75, was the chief financial officer of former US president Donald Trump’s real estate and entertainment group from 2005 to 2021.
He pleaded guilty in August to 15 counts of tax fraud in a deal in which he agreed to testify at the criminal trial of his former employer’s company.
In a statement announcing the sentence, New York district attorney Alvin Bragg called it a 13-year scheme to defraud federal, state and city authorities.
Weisselberg’s testimony helped prosecutors gain the December 6 conviction of the Trump Organization and sister firm Trump Payroll Corp on 17 similar fraud and tax evasion charges that involved falsifying business records.
Although he testified against the company, Weisselberg did not implicate the former president, who is again seeking the White House in 2024, in any crime.
A close friend of the Trump family, Weisselberg admitted he schemed with the company to receive undeclared benefits such as a rent-free apartment in a posh Manhattan neighbourhood, luxury cars for him and his wife and private school tuition for his grandchildren.
According to his plea deal, Weisselberg agreed to pay nearly US$2 million in fines and penalties in addition to the prison time and a five-year probation period.
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After the verdict against his family business in December, Trump declared on his social media platform that the Trump Organization bore no responsibility for “Weisselberg committing tax fraud on his personal tax returns”.
The former president, whose two sons currently run the company, called the New York case a “witch hunt”.
