Former President Donald J. Trump’s business organization ran a fifteen-year, illegal off-the-books employee compensation scheme implemented by its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, according to a fifteen-count New York County grand jury indictment unsealed on Thursday. Subtle hints in and surrounding this document foreshadow future legal trouble for Mr. Trump himself. With the grand jury expected to meet three times per week for much of the year, we should expect a superseding indictment by fall, one that could include other executives in the Trump Organization including the president’s sons, Donald Trump, Jr., and Eric Trump, as well as the former president himself
In the days leading up to the indictment being unsealed and Weisselberg being brought before the court in handcuffs, defense lawyers tried to brush it off as small potatoes. Yet, the crimes alleged are quite serious, including a scheme to defraud, conspiracy, grand larceny, criminal tax fraud, and falsifying business records. Weisselberg, 73, appeared before the judge on Thursday and pled not guilty to all charges. A conviction could lead to many years in state prison.
Not only did he apparently effectuate what prosecutor Carey Dunne at the arraignment called a “sweeping and audacious illegal payment scheme,” he was one of its biggest beneficiaries. The indictment reveals that Weisselberg enjoyed luxury automobiles, a swanky Manhattan apartment, private school tuition, and more, all provided by his employer, without paying a penny from his own pocket and without declaring any of it as income. But he was not the only beneficiary. Weisselberg, who has worked for the Trump family for half a century, helped the Trump Organization pay other executives off the books as well.
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