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Prosecutors to charge Trump Organization and its CFO with tax-related crimes on Thursday - WSJ

By Arghyadeep on Jun 30, 2021 | 02:30 AM IST

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The Manhattan district attorney’s office is expected to charge the Trump Organization and its CFO with alleged tax-related crimes on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The charges against the former president’s company and its longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg would mark the first criminal charges since prosecutors began investigating it three years ago.

The Trump Organization is a privately held company that operates, invests, and develops residential real estate, hotels, resorts, and golf courses.

The former President Donald Trump had defended multiple criminal and civil probes against his company during and after his presidential tenure.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office and New York state attorney general’s office investigated if Weisselberg and other employees evaded tax payment on fringe benefits received from the Trump Organization like apartments, cars and private-school tuition, WSJ reported.

Lawyers said that if prosecutors could prove that the company and its executives systematically avoided taxes payment, a more severe charge could be filed alleging a scheme.

However, Trump’s lawyers have argued that charging a company over fringe benefits or employee compensation was unheard of, WSJ reported.

However, Donald Trump has denied any wrongdoing and said offices led by Democrats conducted the investigations and are politically motivated and said that the case is composed of “things that are standard practice throughout the U.S. business community and in no way a crime.”

Former prosecutors said it is rare to charge an individual or company for tax evasion on employee benefits; however, it is estimated that this investigation is part of a broader criminal probe into whether the firm and its executives overvalued or undervalued its assets on loan, tax and insurance documents for financial gain.

Picture Credit: Reuters

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