Trump Organization found guilty of tax evasion in New York

Donald Trump’s family business, the Trump Organization, was found guilty on Tuesday of financial and tax fraud following a trial in New York that did not try the former Republican president, Manhattan Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

The jury, which retired on Monday for deliberations after more than a month of hearings, “found the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation guilty on all counts,” Alvin Bragg wrote on his Twitter account.

“This is a case of greed and deceit”

Both companies were sued for tax evasion and falsified accounting records, in part to withhold financial compensation from some tax officials. “It is a matter of greed and deceit. No company is above the law in Manhattan,” Attorney Bragg said in a press release, specifying that this was the first time that Donald Trump’s company had been convicted in a criminal case. Now the billionaire is officially running for the Republican Party presidential nomination in 2024.

“For 13 years, Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corporation circumvented the law by providing generous benefits and compensation to high-level executives, deliberately hiding these benefits from the tax authorities in order to avoid paying taxes,” he added. The verdict is due on January 13, 2023, the prosecutor clarifies.

In the case, former family group CFO Allen Weisselberg reached a settlement with justice in August and pleaded guilty to 15 counts of fraud and tax evasion in respect of $1.76 million in unreported income between 2005 and 2021. The Trump family testified during the lawsuit against the company, which, among other things, operates hotels, golf courses and real estate investments. Early in the trial, Donald Trump denounced the Democrats’ “witch hunt” against him.