The chief financial officer of a Donald Trump company, Allen Weisselberg, was set to plead guilty Thursday to violations of U.S. tax laws, as part of a plea deal that requires him to testify about illicit business practices at Trump. Organization, revealed to Associated Press two people familiar with the matter.
Weisselberg is accused of accepting more than $1.7 million in unreported compensation from the former president’s company over the years, including benefits such as rent, car payments and school tuition.
The deal would require Weisselberg to speak in court Thursday about the company’s role in the alleged compensation arrangement and possibly testify when the Trump Organization is brought to trial in October on related criminal charges, said the two people, who spoke. on condition of not being identified.
Weisselberg, 75, will most likely be sentenced to five months in jail, a sentence he will serve at New York’s notorious Rikers Island resort, and could have to pay $2 million in restitution, including taxes, penalties and interest, the people added. If that sentence is upheld, Weisselberg could be released from jail after about 100 days in prison.
Messages seeking comment were left with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and with attorneys for Weisselberg and the Trump Organization.
Weisselberg is the only person so far to face charges in the Manhattan prosecutor’s long-running investigation of the company’s business practices.
Considered one of Trump’s most loyal associates, Weisselberg was arrested in July 2021.
His lawyers have argued that the Democratic-led district attorney’s office is punishing him because he failed to provide information damaging to Trump.
The district attorney has also been investigating whether Trump or his company lied to banks or the government about the real value of their properties in order to obtain loans and reduce their taxes.
Last year, then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who launched the investigation, instructed his aides to present evidence to a grand jury and request an indictment against Trump, according to Mark Pomerantz, who previously led the investigation.
But when Vance left office, his successor, Alvin Bragg, allowed the grand jury to disband without charges. Both prosecutors are Democrats. Bragg has said the investigation is continuing.
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