UPDATE (ABOVE) The New York Daily News rebrands the Trump Organization “Fraud.org.” That’s going to stick.
The Manhattan DA scores the first legal victory against the Trump criminal enterprise. A jury has found the Trump Organization guilty on all charges in a criminal tax fraud trial. The penalty will be financial fines, but in the New York AG’s separate civil action, Letitia James could seek the “death penalty,” i.e., the dissolution of the Trump Organization.
NBC News reports, Jury finds Trump Organization guilty of tax fraud scheme:
A criminal court jury in New York on Tuesday found the Trump Organization guilty of all charges in a sweeping, 15-year tax fraud scheme that prosecutors said was orchestrated by top executives at the company.
Jurors deliberated for just over a day before returning the guilty verdicts.
The Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg, its former longtime chief financial officer, were indicted last year after a multi-year investigation into the company’s financial practices by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Prosecutors alleged that two corporations that are a part of the company, Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp., paid their “already highly paid executives,” including Weisselberg, even more by “cheating on their taxes” through a series of schemes that included off-the-books perks like luxury cars and free apartments.
Weisselberg, 75, pleaded guilty to 15 felony charges in August and was prosecutors’ star witness. The companies argued that Weisselberg, who is still on the Trump Organization’s payroll, was the lone bad actor. They contended he masterminded the scheme for his own personal benefit, not the company’s.
The jury needed only to find that the corporation benefited from the scheme, i.e., paying lower taxes by compensating employees “off the books.” The jury clearly found that the Trump Organization benefited from the scheme.
New York Attorney General Letitia James issued the following statement on the Guilty Verdict for Trump Organization:
New York Attorney General Letitia James today released the following statement regarding the guilty verdict handed down by the jury in the case against the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation — together doing business as the Trump Organization brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg:
“We can have no tolerance for individuals or organizations that violate our laws to line their pockets. I commend Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team for their successful prosecution of the Trump Organization, and I was proud to assist in this important case. This verdict sends a clear message that no one, and no organization, is above our laws.”
The Trump Organization was found guilty of: Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, Criminal Tax Fraud in the Third Degree, Criminal Tax Fraud in the Fourth Degree, and Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG), under Attorney General James, worked closely with the Manhattan District Attorney’s (DA) Office to investigate and uncover a scheme employed by the Trump Organization to avoid paying taxes. In July 2021, the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation and the Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Allen Weisselberg were indicted for their roles in this tax scheme. Mr. Weisselberg pled guilty to the charges in August 2022.
This matter was handled for OAG by Gary T. Fishman, Director of Crime Proceeds Strike Force and Special Advisor to the Criminal Justice Division, and Assistant Attorney General Greg Morril of OAG’s Public Integrity Bureau, both cross-designated in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
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I wonder if the Trump Org was stupid enough to allow rather bog-standard revocation clauses in their bank and corporate loan agreements? If so, Trump could be seriously endangered by creditors calling in his loans en mass, which would absolutely ruin him financially. We might see a personal and/org corporate bankruptcy as the ultimate consequence of this conviction for Trump personally.
You are correct.The company faces up to $1.6 million in fines after being convicted on all charges, but the revocation clauses in their loan agreements for a criminal conviction could result in his “creditors calling in his loans en mass, which would absolutely ruin him financially.” And AG Leticia James in her civil case next year could seek the “death penalty,” i.e., dissolution of the corporation and barring the Trump family members from conducting business for 5 years.
The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, is hiring a former senior justice department official, Matthew Colangelo, who before acting as third in command at the Justice Department, led the New York attorney general’s civil inquiry into Mr. Trump, as the office seeks to ramp up its investigation into the former president. “Manhattan D.A. Hires Ex-Justice Official to Help Lead Trump Inquiry”, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/05/nyregion/alvin-bragg-trump-investigation.html