The former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, close to Donald Trump, pleaded guilty Thursday to fraud and tax evasion and will have to testify in the trial against the company, according to a press release from the Manhattan prosecutor’s office.
Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 counts of fraud and tax evasion involving $1.76 million in unreported income between 2005 and 2021, the statement said.
This discreet 75-year-old man, who has worked for the Trumps since 1973, is accused by the courts of having benefited from benefits in kind, in particular an apartment in an upscale district of Manhattan, the rental of two Mercedes for him and his wife , and to have received cash for his holidays, hiding everything from the taxman.
“Today, Allen Weisselberg admitted in court to using his position at the Trump Organization to defraud taxpayers and enrich himself personally,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in the statement.
“The settlement reached with the court directly binds the Trump Organization to a wide range of criminal activity and requires Mr. Weisselberg to provide valuable testimony in the upcoming trial against the company,” he added.
Allen Weisselberg initially pleaded not guilty in July 2021 to the charges against him and risked up to 15 years in prison.
According to the agreement, he now faces only five months in prison and will have to pay nearly $2 million in taxes, with penalties and interest, according to the press release.
Allen Weisselberg has so far always refused to testify against Donald Trump personally.
The criminal trial against the Trump Organization, the company having pleaded not guilty, is due to open on October 24.
Another investigation, this time in civil but relating to the same suspicions of financial and tax fraud in the Trump Organization, is led by the Attorney General of the State of New York, Letitia James.
It is in this context that Donald Trump had to testify under oath last week, however refusing to answer questions under the 5th Amendment to the American Constitution, which allows any litigant not to testify against himself.
In another case, Donald Trump’s residence in Florida was raided last week.
FBI investigators suspect the Republican of having violated a US espionage law that very strictly regulates the possession of confidential documents related to national security, some of which must only be consulted or seen in secure buildings, according to court documents. .
A parliamentary committee is also seeking to shed light on the role the billionaire played in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021.