The former Trump Organization chief financial officer is expected to plead guilty on Thursday to a 15-year tax fraud scheme, but will not enter into a cooperation agreement to help New York prosecutors with the criminal investigation. of real estate company finances, said a person familiar with the matter.
Allen Weisselberg, a fiercely loyal and longtime employee of former President Donald Trump’s company, is in advanced negotiations to plead the indictment, the source said. The judge overseeing the case has scheduled a hearing for Thursday morning.
Under the terms of the deal, which is still being finalized, Weisselberg would receive a five-month prison sentence but serve about 100 days behind bars, the person said. Weisselberg is subject to up to 15 years in prison.
Weisselberg will not sign up as a cooperator, the person said, but he will testify at the trial — if the case goes ahead and the Trump Organization fails to reach a settlement. The judge set the trial for October 24.
The New York Times first reported details of the deal.
The Manhattan District Attorney announced the tax charges last year and sought to gain Weisselberg’s cooperation against the former president in a broader criminal investigation into the accuracy of the Trump Organization’s financial statements.
Despite the pressure, Weisselberg did not agree to “turn” or cooperate against Trump or his children. No charges were made in this investigation.
A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Trump Organization has ten counts and Weisselberg has 15 felony counts related to an alleged scheme that extended until 2005 “to compensate Weisselberg and other Trump Organization executives in a way that was ‘off the record’.”
Prosecutors allege Weisselberg failed to pay taxes on $1.7 million in income, including luxury perks such as a Manhattan apartment, a pair of Mercedes-Benz cars and private school tuition for two family members.
The ruling followed Judge Juan Merchan denying motions by Weisselberg and the Trump Organization to drop the tax charges at a hearing last week.
Weisselberg’s expected guilty plea comes during a dramatic legal period for Trump, who last week in testimony in the New York attorney general’s civil investigation asserted his Fifth Amendment right and refused to answer hundreds of questions about the demonstrations. funds of the Trump Organization.
This came two days after the FBI executed a search warrant on Trump’s private Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, as part of a criminal investigation into the handling of presidential records, including confidential documents.
Source: CNN Brasil
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