The investigation into Donald Trump’s company, which has been ongoing for two years, has apparently led to the first indictments. According to US media, the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer will surrender and the company will be charged with tax evasion.
According to media reports, the New York judiciary has brought charges against the Trump Organization, the real estate empire of former US President Donald Trump. As the “Wall Street Journal” reports, Trump’s family holding company and its CFO Allen Weisselberg are accused of tax evasion. At Weisselberg, there is a suspicion that the 73-year-old received additional benefits from the Trump Organization, such as the use of luxury apartments and cars that were not taxed.
Weisselberg has long been the focus of investigations against the company. He has worked for the Trumps all his life and also manages the family wealth. Since hardly anyone would have such intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the Trump Organization as he did, he was targeted by the New Yorkers. Some payments to a private school attended by his grandchildren are rumored to have been misdeclared. Presumably, he was supposed to be put under pressure to testify against Donald Trump. According to the Washington Post, Weisselberg will now face the authorities himself.
Family business taken over by Fred Trump
The real estate business of the ex-president is bundled in the Trump Organization, which consists of hundreds of individual companies. It owns luxury hotels, golf clubs, residential buildings, and commercial real estate in the United States and abroad. Probably the most famous property is the Trump Tower in New York, where Trump lived for a long time. The 75-year-old also used to own a number of casinos. Trump took over the family business from his father Fred in the 1970s. After winning the 2016 presidential election and taking office in January 2017, he handed over management of the business to his sons Donald Junior and Eric.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has been investigating Trump and the Trump Organization since 2019. At first it was about hush money payments to the porn actress Stormy Daniels and the former “Playboy” model Karen McDougal, who say they had affairs with Trump years ago.
The investigations were then expanded to include possible tax, banking and insurance fraud. Since February, prosecutor Vance has also had Trump’s tax returns from 2011 after a long legal battle. Trump had resisted the release of the documents and went to the Supreme Court of the country, but lost there.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James is also investigating the Trump Organization. Vance and James are now cooperating in their investigation. In May it became known that Vance had called a grand jury. The lay judges decide whether or not to bring charges based on the evidence.
No investigation against Trump personally
As the “New York Times” and the “Washington Post” reported, the grand jury decided a few days ago on the charges against the Trump Organization and Weisselberg. However, no specific charges were mentioned in these reports.
According to the reports, no charges are being brought against Trump personally, at least for now. The ex-president has repeatedly spoken of a politically motivated “witch hunt” against him. Vance and James are members of President Joe Biden’s Democrats.
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