Weisselberg was handcuffed to a court in the US metropolis on Thursday and pleaded not guilty. The indictment concerns non-taxed additional benefits for Weisselberg. Weisselberg is a long-standing business partner of Trump.
During his presidency, he helped run Trump’s real estate empire. The prosecution had been awaited. This concerns non-taxed additional services for Weisselberg. The 73-year-old is said to have paid no taxes on income of $ 1.7 million for a period of 15 years. The indictment comprises a total of 15 points.
In the Trump Organization, which consists of hundreds of individual companies, the real estate business of the ex-president is bundled. 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.
The Trump Organization accused the public prosecutor’s office of wanting to use Weisselberg as a pawn sacrifice. Attempts should be made to leave scorched earth behind and harm the former Republican President. “This is not justice; this is politics,” the message said. Trump himself had denied any wrongdoing and described the investigation as a witch hunt by politically motivated prosecutors. District Attorney Vance is a Democrat.
It is currently not expected that Trump will also be accused this week. However, his lawyer Ronald Fischetti stated that, according to the prosecutor, the screening of his company was going on. As he said on Monday, this suggested that the allegations were related to taxes and benefits.
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 investigation was then expanded to include possible tax, banking and insurance fraud. Trump’s longtime private attorney Michael Cohen testified at a congressional hearing in February 2019 that Trump had given the value of his real estate too high or too low depending on the interests.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James is also investigating the Trump Organization. Vance and James are now cooperating in their investigation. Vance and James are members of President Joe Biden’s Democrats.
