Former President Donald Trump’s real estate company cheated tax authorities over a 15-year period, a New York prosecutor told a jury on Monday in her opening statement in the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial.
The case is among the mounting legal troubles facing the 76-year-old Trump as he considers another bid for the presidency after losing in 2020.
The Trump Organization between at least 2005 and 2021 paid executives – including its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg – in perks such as rent and car leases without reporting those benefits to tax authorities, said Susan Hoffinger, a prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
“This case is about greed and cheating, cheating on taxes,” Hoffinger said. “The scheme was conducted, directed and authorized at the highest levels of the accounting department at the company.”
Hoffinger said the company benefited from the scheme by “keeping their trusted chief financial officer happy” and avoiding some taxes.
“Everybody wins here,” Hoffinger said. “Of course, everybody but the tax authorities. The problem with doing it this way is that it’s not legal.”
The Trump Organization has pleaded not guilty. Trump has not been charged in the case.
Weisselberg agreed to testify as a prosecution witness at trial as part of a plea agreement for him to receive a sentence of five months in jail.
Susan Necheles – a lawyer for the Trump Corporation, one of the two Trump Organization units charged in the case – said the case was about Weisselberg’s personal tax returns. She asked jurors to consider Weisselberg’s “need to satisfy the prosecution.”
“Keep in mind the extreme pressure that Mr. Weisselberg is under,” Necheles said. “It starts with Allen Weisselberg and it ends with Allen Weisselberg.”
A lawyer for the other unit charged – the Trump Payroll Corporation – is expected to give an opening statement later on Monday.
If convicted, the Trump Organization – which operates hotels, golf courses and other real estate around the world – could face up to $1.6 million in fines. It could also further complicate the real estate firm’s ability to do business.
The trial is expected to last over a month. A unanimous verdict is required for conviction on each count of tax fraud, scheming to defraud, and falsifying business records.
