These are some of the key players in the Trump Org investigation
From CNN’s Alyssa Kraus, Erica Orden and Kara Scannell
New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization, Trump Payroll Corporation and its chief financial officer with 15 felony counts in connection with an alleged tax scheme stretching back to 2005.
Prosecutors in court said the counts include a scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud, offering a false instrument for filing and falsifying business records.
Though former President Trump has faced multiple federal and state prosecutorial inquiries during his administration, the district attorney’s indictment is the first to charge his namesake company, the Trump Organization, for conduct that occurred when he led it.
Here are some of the key players in the case:
- Allen Weisselberg: Weisselberg, the chief financial officer for the Trump Organization, surrendered to the district attorney’s office this morning before the indictments were unsealed. The indictment alleges Weisselberg evaded $1.76 million in taxes over the period beginning in 2005 and that he concealed for years that he was a resident of New York City, thereby avoiding paying city income taxes. Weisselberg pleaded not guilty Thursday afternoon, and was released on his own recognizance and told to turn in his passport. The indictment of Weisselberg would intensify the pressure for him to cooperate with prosecutors in their wide-ranging investigation of Trump, the company and its executives, an outcome prosecutors have been seeking for months but which his lawyers have told authorities he has rejected. Investigators’ scrutiny of Weisselberg began late last year, as prosecutors gathered evidence on him with the assistance of his former daughter-in-law. Weisselberg has worked for Trump since 1973.
- Cyrus Vance Jr.: Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, is leading the indictment of the Trump Organization, as it was his probe that questioned the accounting practices tied to hush-money payments made by former President Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen. Vance Jr.’s probe eventually led to a Supreme Court fight over a subpoena for Trump’s tax documents. Vance Jr. announced earlier this year that he would not be seeking reelection. The winner of the Manhattan DA Democratic primary is poised to take over the Trump investigation.
- Letitia James: New York State Attorney General Letitia James is working with Vance Jr. to investigate the Trump Organization. For the past two years, James’ office looked into matters – including whether or not the company improperly inflated assets on financial statements to secure loans and obtain economic and tax benefits – as well as how Trump Organization employees were compensated. In a statement released Thursday after the indictments were announced against the company, James said “this investigation will continue, and we will follow the facts and the law wherever they may lead.”
- Barry Weisselberg: Allen Weisselberg’s son, Barry Weisselberg, received thousands of dollars in payments for cars, rent, tuition, medical bills and more, from his father, according to documents from his divorce with Jennifer Weisselberg in 2018. In addition, Barry Weisselberg worked for the Trump Organization for more than a decade and was involved in managing two skating rinks and a carousel in New York’s Central Park.
- Jennifer Weisselberg: The former daughter-in-law of Allen Weisselberg, Jennifer Weisselberg assisted prosecutors with gathering evidence after her divorce from Barry Weisselberg. She has turned over boxes of financial records and has met with investigators multiple times, her lawyer Duncan Levin told CNN. According to Jennifer Weisselberg, she and her ex-husband lived in apartments rent-free.
- Matthew Calamari and his son Matthew Calamari Jr.: Two individuals under scrutiny for receiving subsidized rent and company cars are Matthew Calamari, Trump’s one-time security guard and chief operating officer, and his son, Matthew Calamari Jr. However, the investigation into the two men is not as advanced as the investigation of Allen Weisselberg.
- Mary Mulligan: Mulligan is the attorney for chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg. She recently issued a statement saying her client “will fight these charges in court.”
Read more about the investigation here.
Prosecutors say Trump Org gave Weisselberg approximately $1.76 million in untaxed compensation
From CNN’s Erica Orden and Sonia Moghe
According to the indictment, the company paid for rent, utilities and garage expenses on a Riverside Boulevard apartment that Weisselberg and his wife occupy.
The indictment says the company maintained internal spreadsheets tracking the amounts it paid for Weisselberg’s rent, utilities and garage expenses, and that it accordingly reduced the amount of direct compensation to account for the expenses it was paying for him. The company didn’t withhold income taxes on the indirect compensation, and Weisselberg reported only his direct compensation on his tax returns, according to the indictment.
Though Weisselberg began living in a Riverside Boulevard apartment rented by the company for him in 2005, he didn’t say he was a New York City resident on his taxes until 2013, when he sold his home in Wantagh, New York, thereby avoiding paying city income taxes, according to the indictment.
Between 2005 and June 2021, prosecutors said that Weisselberg received indirect employee compensation from the Trump Organization in the approximate amount of $1.76 million, the indictment said.
Over that span prosecutors say Weisselberg “thereby evaded approximately $556,385 in federal taxes, approximately $106,568 in state taxes, and approximately $238,159 in New York City taxes, and he falsely claimed and received approximately $94,902 in federal tax refunds and approximately $38,222 in state tax refunds, to which he was not entitled.”
More details: The indictment alleges the tuition payments were part of a “scheme to defraud” and that Trump Organization personnel, including Weisselberg, arranged for the tuition payments for Weisselberg’s family members.
Jennifer Weisselberg, Allen Weisselberg’s former daughter-in-law, previously told CNN she believed Trump paid for tuition for her two children to attend the elite private school Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, and that she shared this information with prosecutors.
Prosecutors allege in the indictment that the payments for Weisselberg’s grandchildren were “indirect compensation” and were not included on Weisselberg’s W-2 forms, and that no income taxes were withheld by the Trump Organization or Trump Payroll Corp. in connection with the tuition payments.
“Weisselberg intentionally caused the tuition payments to be omitted from his personal tax returns, despite knowing that those payments represented taxable income and were treated as compensation by the Trump Corporation in internal records,” the indictment stated.
Trump reacts to indictments against his company and CFO
Former President Trump just released a statement, casting the indictments against the Trump Organization and its CFO as part of a “political Witch Hunt.”
“The political Witch Hunt by the Radical Left Democrats, with New York now taking over the assignment, continues. It is dividing our Country like never before!,” the statement reads.
More on the charges: New York prosecutors today charged the Trump Organization, Trump Payroll Corporation and its Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg with 15 felony counts in connection with an alleged tax scheme stretching back to 2005, in an extraordinary legal development against the former President’s namesake company.
Prosecutors in court said the counts include a scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud, offering a false instrument for filing and falsifying business records.
Trump himself was not charged.
CNN’s Michael Warren, Erica Orden and Kara Scannell contributed reporting to this post.
Michael Cohen: Allen Weisselberg’s head is “on the chopping block”
From CNN’s Maureen Chowdhury
Michael Cohen, former personal attorney to Donald Trump, said Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg’s head is “on the chopping block” following indictments filed against him and the company.
“What you’re going to find is that Allen Weisselberg is in substantially greater jeopardy than he was last night,” Cohen told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota.
“That feeling of the handcuffs or shackles or however else they paraded him through, that’s real and he knows the reality now a lot greater than he did yesterday,” he said.
Cohen who was sentenced to time in federal prison for crimes that included arranging payments during the 2016 election to silence women who claimed affairs with Trump, said that he believes that Weisselberg should be prepared for Trump to eventually stop supporting him.
“What you have right now is Allen Weisselberg’s head on the chopping block. Do you think that Donald Trump will protect him? Well, if Allen looks back at what happened to me, the answer is an emphatic no,” he said.
Cohen also noted that he believes Trump’s “nine lives” are up and that he can no longer avoid accountability.
“I think his nine lives have expired, because the documentary evidence that’s in the hands of the prosecutors is so significant and so spot-on that there’s no way anybody’s getting out of it,” Cohen explained.
Watch here:
Prosecutors handed electronic storage devices over to defense lawyers
From CNN’s Kara Scannell
Prosecutors handed electronic storage devices over to defense lawyers — one to attorneys for the Trump Organization and the other to a lawyer for Allen Weisselberg.
Weisselberg’s passport was turned over in person
Weisselberg released on his own recognizance and told to turn in his passport
From CNN’s Sonia Moghe
Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg was released on his own recognizance and told to turn in his passport.
After the hearing, he walked out of the courthouse and into a waiting SUV.
Earlier today: The indictment, which has just been unsealed, charges the Trump Organization, Trump Payroll Corp. and Weisselberg with 15 felony counts in connection with an alleged scheme stretching back to 2005 “to compensate Weisselberg and other Trump Organization in a manner that was ‘off the books.’”
The three are charged with a scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud, and falsifying business records.
Weisselberg is also charged with grand larceny and offering a false instrument for filing.
Prosecutors: Trump Org CFO evaded taxes on $1.7 million on income
From CNN’s Erica Orden and Kara Scannell
New York prosecutors on Thursday charged the Trump Organization, Trump Payroll Corporation and its Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg with 15 felony counts in connection with an alleged tax scheme stretching back to 2005, in an extraordinary legal development against the former President’s namesake company.
Prosecutors in court said the counts include a scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud, offering a false instrument for filing and falsifying business records.
The indictment also alleges Weisselberg evaded $1.76 million in taxes over the period beginning in 2005 and that he concealed for years that he was a resident of New York City, thereby avoiding paying city income taxes.
Weisselberg pleaded not guilty Thursday afternoon.
Prosecutors say they have digital drives with grand jury testimony, bookkeeping records, tax records, statements of potential witnesses.
Weisselberg attempted to conceal his participation in the scheme with the knowledge of the company, prosecutors said.
Read more about today’s charges here.
New York attorney general says the “investigation will continue”
New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a statement Thursday calling the indictment against the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg an, “important marker in the ongoing criminal investigation.”
Her statement reads:
“Today is an important marker in the ongoing criminal investigation of the Trump Organization and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg. In the indictment, we allege, among other things, financial wrongdoing whereby the Trump Organization engaged in a scheme with Mr. Weisselberg to avoid paying taxes on certain compensation. This investigation will continue, and we will follow the facts and the law wherever they may lead.”
The statement says “The charges relate to the alleged failure by Weisselberg to pay New York state and federal income taxes on approximately $1.7 million in compensation. This is part of an ongoing criminal investigation conducted by Attorney General James and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.”
Read the full indictment charges against the Trump Organization and its CFO
The Manhattan district attorney’s office unsealed charges Thursday against the Trump Organization, its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, and the Trump Payroll Corporation – marking the first criminal case against former President Trump’s company.
Prosecutors in court described a 15-year tax scheme and said the charges include 15 felony counts, including a scheme to defraud, conspiracy, grand larceny and falsifying business records.
Read the full indictment here:
