Former President Donald Trump’s business empire, the Trump Organization, is poised to head to trial Monday for a flurry of alleged tax and financial crimes.
Although Trump has not been charged in the sprawling case, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has kept the door open to levying charges against him in the future. If found guilty, the Trump Organization will be forced to pay fines and back taxes totaling roughly $1.6 million, Bloomberg reported.
The Trump Organization, which was indicted last year, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. No one will go to prison if there is a criminal conviction in the matter.
NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL SEEKS TO ACCELERATE TRUMP FRAUD SUIT
Allen Weisselberg, who helmed the company’s accounting for decades, is expected to testify. He pleaded guilty to 15 counts in a fraud scheme and reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in August.
Weisselberg had been charged with a 15-year scheme in which he allegedly got benefits off-the-books from the Trump Organization and evaded taxes on about $1.7 million worth of income. Given his extensive knowledge of the Trump Organization’s financial information, his testimony has been hotly anticipated.
So far, Bragg has only slapped the Trump Organization, Weisselberg, and the Trump Organization subsidiary Trump Payroll Corporation with charges. The investigation, which has been underway for several years, began under Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance.
Some prosecutors who have departed Bragg’s office have vented that he has been too apprehensive about bringing forward a case against Trump and been fearful of losing a case against Trump.
Jury selection in the trial will begin Monday and take place in the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.
In tandem with Bragg’s inquiry, New York Attorney General Letitia James has been conducting a sweeping civil investigation into Trump’s business dealings. Last month, she unveiled a whopping $250 million lawsuit against Trump and his business empire, accusing him of violating a litany of financial laws.
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“This investigation revealed that Donald Trump engaged in years of illegal conduct to inflate his net worth … to deceive banks and the people of the great state of New York. Claiming you have money that you do not have does not amount to the art of the deal. It’s the art of the steal,” James said last month when she announced the suit.
Both James’s and Bragg’s offices have been cooperating with each other on their respective investigations. Trump has denied wrongdoing and decried the investigation from James as a “witch hunt.”
