Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg turned himself in to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Thursday morning, with an indictment on tax charges to be revealed later in the day, multiple outlets reported.
The Manhattan DA and New York State Attorney General’s Office have been investigating whether Weisselberg and other Trump Organization employees avoided paying taxes on fringe benefits from the company. Prosecutors filed an indictment against Weisselberg on Wednesday, and no charges are expected to be filed against former President Trump in the case.
Weisselberg “is now being used by the Manhattan District Attorney as a pawn in a scorched earth attempt to harm the former President,” the Trump Organization said in a statement. “The District Attorney is bringing a criminal prosecution involving employee benefits that neither the IRS nor any other District Attorney would ever think of bringing. This is not justice; this is politics.”
The current case pertains to “things that are standard practice throughout the U.S. business community, and in no way a crime,” Trump said in a statement earlier this week.
An indictment based solely on failure to pay taxes on fringe benefits would be unusual since few companies face similar charges, former prosecutors told the Wall Street Journal. Other prosecutors speculated to the Journal that the charges could be a pressure tactic against Weisselberg, who has so far not cooperated with the probe into the Trump Organization.
Source: National Review
