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NEW YORK CRIMINAL PROBEFollowing Tuesday's verdict, the New York state judge set a sentencing date for Jan. 13. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Nov. 18, three days after Trump announced his 2024 presidential run, appointed Jack Smith special counsel to take over two Justice Department investigations. Trump has accused the Justice Department of engaging in a partisan witch hunt. Trump asked Raffensperger to "find" enough votes needed to overturn Trump's election loss in Georgia. Legal experts said Trump may have violated at least three Georgia criminal election laws: conspiracy to commit election fraud, criminal solicitation to commit election fraud and intentional interference with performance of election duties.

The jury is set to begin deliberations Monday in the tax fraud trial of the Trump Organization, which is accused of a sweeping, 15-year scheme to compensate top executives of former President Donald Trump’s company off the books. The 15-count indictment charges the company and longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg with scheming to defraud, tax fraud and falsifying records. Trump Organization lawyers outlined their case that the prosecution’s star witness in the criminal trial, Weisselberg, committed his crimes to benefit himself. Other executives were compensated with similar perks, they said, and were paid bonuses as independent contractors, saving the company payroll taxes. “Donald Trump is explicitly sanctioning tax fraud.

☆ Manhattan DA's office hires attorney with extensive experience investigating Trump, suing his administration
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Manhattan DA's office has hired Matthew Colangelo as it heats up investigations into Trump. Colangelo oversaw lawsuits against the Trump administration while he worked at the NY AG's office. He also spearheaded the lawsuit that led to the dissolution of the Trump Foundation. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg overlapped with Colangelo at the New York attorney general's office during the Trump years. At the time, Bragg had taken over the office from Cyrus Vance Jr., the district attorney who initiated the investigation.

Its longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded guilty and testified for the prosecution. The Trump Organization has pleaded not guilty. Its lawyers have argued that an outside accountant from Mazars USA who prepared tax returns for the company, Donald Bender, should have caught Weisselberg's fraud and blown the whistle. Bender "turned a blind eye to Allen Weisselberg's wrongdoing," defense lawyer Susan Necheles said in her closing argument on Thursday. Mazars cut ties with the Trump Organization earlier this year.

☆ Deliberations have started in the Trump Organization tax fraud trial and the judge told jurors to 'set aside' any Trump biases
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Deliberations began Monday in the Trump Organization tax-fraud trial. Jurors must decide if the company is criminally liable for its top financial executives' tax crimes. 'Set aside any personal opinions or biases you may have against Trump,' the judge instructed. Three of the sworn jurors — a full quarter of the jury — said during jury selection that they don't like Trump or his politics. Prosecutors have said they did so to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes a year for the company's top executives, a half-dozen men one rung down the corporate ladder from the Trump family itself.

Prosecutors in the Trump Organization tax fraud trial said in their closing arguments Friday that the former president sanctioned what became a sweeping 15-year scheme to compensate top company executives off the books. “Donald Trump is explicitly sanctioning tax fraud. “This whole narrative that Donald Trump is blissfully ignorant is just not real.”Attorneys for the defense objected to the late-trial move by the prosecution, which also mentioned Trump at the beginning of closing arguments on Thursday. The 15-count indictment in the case charges the company and longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg with scheming to defraud, tax fraud and falsifying records. Donald Trump stands next to Allen Weisselberg at a news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower on Jan. 11, 2017.

☆ Closing Arguments in Trump Organization Tax Fraud Trial Focus on Company Role
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Corinne Ramey | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Lawyers in the Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud case made their final pitches to a New York jury Thursday, with defense attorneys portraying a scheme to evade taxes as confined to a rogue employee and prosecutors calling it a deliberate corporate practice. Much of the trial, which began in late October in state court, focused on the role of former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, who served as prosecutors’ star witness and pleaded guilty earlier this year to 15 felonies for his role in the tax fraud scheme. Closing arguments are expected to continue Friday, clearing the way for jury deliberations next week.

"The whole narrative that Donald Trump was blissfully ignorant is just not real," Steinglass told the 12-person jury in a New York state court. Company lawyers objected when Steinglass showed jurors a Trump-initialed memo said it showed the former president "explicitly sanctioning tax fraud." If convicted on tax fraud, falsifying business records and other charges, Trump's company faces up to $1.6 million in fines. Steinglass said Trump approved luxury apartments for Weisselberg and his son, and for chief operating officer Matthew Calamari and his son. "Free cars for you, free cars for your wife, free apartments for you, free apartments for your kids."

"The entire defense strategy here is to promote the notion that Weisselberg did it for Weisselberg," Steinglass told the jury in a New York state court in Manhattan. Steinglass told jurors that Trump executives other than Weisselberg were involved, saying the company's chief operating officer and a former general counsel received Christmas bonuses as if they were independent contractors. If convicted on all nine counts it faces, Trump's company faces up to $1.6 million in fines. 'SMORGASBORD OF BENEFITS'Defense lawyers had told jurors on Thursday that Weisselberg's intent was to benefit himself and not the company. Weisselberg is expected to serve five months in jail after pleading guilty to tax fraud and other charges.

☆ DA in Trump Org closings accuses Donald Trump of 'sanctioning tax fraud' — and implies 1 witness was paid off
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In closings, a prosecutor took the extraordinary step of accusing Trump of "sanctioning tax fraud." This 2012 memo shows Donald Trump 'explicitly sanctioning tax fraud,' a prosecutor said in closing arguments on December 2, 2022, in the Trump Organization tax-fraud trial. multiple defense lawyers shouted when the prosecutor accused Trump of "sanctioning tax fraud," interrupting the closing arguments. Judge, we go back to the issue that he just argued Donald Trump was explicitly authorizing tax fraud," she complained. The Manhattan case charges two corporate subsidiaries — the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation, both doing business as the Trump Organization — with scheme to defraud, conspiracy and related tax-fraud crimes.

☆ 'Donald Trump knew exactly what was going on' in Trump Org. tax fraud, Manhattan prosecutor says in summations
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Late Thursday, a prosecutor told jurors Trump "knew exactly" how his top executives dodged taxes. The "Trump was in on it" pronouncement, made in summations by prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, prompted strong opposition from defense lawyers after jurors left the courtroom for the day. One defense lawyer, Alan Futerfas, objected that Steinglass violated an agreement not to speculate to jurors about what Trump knew or didn't know. "The first problem of the 'prodigal son' narrative," Steinglass told jurors Thursday, "is he didn't steal from the company. The two Trump Organization subsidiaries face a maximum $1.6 million in penalties if convicted of conspiracy, scheme to defraud, and tax fraud.

☆ Trump company tax fraud trial nears end in battle over who to blame
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Joshua Steinglass, a prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorney's office, said Weisselberg was a product of the "culture of fraud and deception" at Trump's company, and not its only tax fraud beneficiary. Weisselberg is expected to serve five months in jail after pleading guilty to tax fraud and other charges. He told jurors his greed motivated him to cheat on taxes, and described the company's modest payroll tax savings as a "byproduct." Necheles told jurors: "The issue here is not whether as a byproduct the company saved some money. Steinglass urged jurors to dismiss the defense's "far-fetched argument" that Trump's company relied on Mazars to catch wrongdoing.

Closing arguments are beginning Thursday in the tax fraud trial of the Trump Organization, which is accused of a sweeping, 15-year scheme to compensate top executives of former President Donald Trump’s company off the books. After lawyers wrap up up arguments, the 12-person jury is set to begin deliberations Monday. Although he said Trump and his sons knew of the perks he received because they would sign the checks, they were unaware of any fraud. Former CFO Allen Weisselberg leaves the courtroom during a trial at the New York Supreme Court in New York on Nov. 17. The New York attorney general’s office is also suing the company, Trump and his oldest children last month, alleging they had overstated the company’s financial assets by billions of dollars.

☆ Trump Org defense closings feature a clueless Donald Trump and a big little loophole
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

"Donald Trump was running a multi-billion-dollar corporate entity," one lawyer, Susan Necheles, told jurors of the Trump Organization's far-too-busy-for-fraud owner. But Weisselberg, she told jurors, hid his self-serving crimes from the Trumps, a family he'd worked for for more than 30 years. "You saw him on the witness stand almost crying" over betraying the Trump family, Necheles told jurors of the former finance chief, repeating for emphasis, "He was ashamed." "I ask you to remember that language," Necheles told the jury, reading it aloud. "The prosecution has been trying to convince you that Mr. Weisselberg's actions were done 'in behalf of' the company," Necheles said.

☆ Trump Organization's criminal tax fraud trial heads to closing arguments
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File PhotoCompanies Trump Organization Inc FollowNEW YORK, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Closing arguments to the jury by prosecution and defense lawyers are set to begin on Thursday in the criminal tax fraud trial of former President Donald Trump's real estate company, which is accused of running a 15-year scheme to defraud tax authorities. Trump, who announced this month he will again seek the presidency in 2024, has not been charged in the case. To prove the Trump Organization guilty, prosecutors must show that Weisselberg and other executives acted as "high managerial agents" of the company when they carried out tax fraud and that the company benefited in some way. Weisselberg has worked for the Trump family for about five decades and is currently on paid leave from the company. Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Will Dunham and Noeleen WalderOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Explainer: The Trump Organization trial is nearing its end. What's the case about?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Here are answers to questions about the accusations the Trump Organization faces. WHAT IS THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION ACCUSED OF DOING? Trump Payroll Corp and the Trump Corporation have been charged with nine counts of scheme to defraud, conspiracy, tax fraud and other crimes. Lawyers for the Trump Organization have sought to shift the blame to Weisselberg, saying he cheated on his personal tax returns to benefit himself, not the company. Mazars cut ties with the Trump Organization this year.

☆ Trump Org hopes to win its Manhattan tax-fraud trial with an 'ignorance' defense — a Trump hallmark
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Summations are Thursday and Friday in the Manhattan tax-fraud trial of the Trump Organization. Star prosecution witnesses with arguably mixed loyalties, the two told jurors they never let anyone named Trump in on the scheme. Jurors may well wonder how Donald Trump, or Eric Trump, or Donald Trump, Jr., could truly have been ignorant of the scheme when the three of them personally signed off on so many of the perks. "Donald Trump didn't know that Allen Weisselberg was cheating on Allen Weisselberg's taxes," as defense lawyer Susan Necheles told jurors in openings. In this trial, though, the ignorance defense goes into overdrive, and doesn't stop with a supposedly clueless Trump.

☆ Trump Org. rests case on sour note in NY tax fraud trial after judge scolds defense over 11th-hour evidence dump
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Lawyers for Trump's real-estate empire rested their case Monday at their Manhattan tax fraud trial. First, though, the trial judge scolded Trump Organization lawyers over an 11th-hour evidence dump. On Monday, defense lawyers told the judge that during summations, they'll tell jurors that although McConney and Weisselberg know now that they broke the law, they didn't know it at the time. Jurors were told to return on Thursday when they will hear the first of two days worth of closing arguments. Meanwhile, the two sides will appear before the judge Tuesday morning to fine-tune what jurors will be told by the judge just before they begin deliberations.

Companies Trump Organization Inc FollowNEW YORK, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Lawyers for former U.S. President Donald Trump's real estate company rested their case on Monday after calling just two witnesses in the Trump Organization's criminal trial in a New York state court on tax fraud charges. Juan Merchan, the judge in the case, set closing arguments for Thursday and Friday with jury deliberations expected to begin next Monday. Trump, who this month launched a run for the presidency in 2024, has not been charged in the case. Weisselberg has worked for the Trump family for about five decades, but is no longer CFO and is on paid leave. "The case was not fair or good," Trump wrote on Monday on social media.

☆ At Trump Org, a 'generous,' 'forgiving' Trump reigned over thankful executives, the defense theory claims
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Manhattan jurors are being asked by the defense to see Donald Trump as a forgiving, generous boss. In summations, prosecutors may call the 'Trump is just generous' defense a total turkey. The tuition schemeTake the total $359,000 in tuition checks Trump or his son, Eric Trump, signed for ex-CFO Allen Weisselberg's grandchildren. Instead, under the "generous Trump" defense, the checks, written from Trump's personal account, are explained away as not a suspicious, tax-dodging perk at all, but a "gift." Here, the defense can be expected to tell jurors that Trump is not only a generous boss, but a forgiving one, too.

☆ Donald Trump once lost $900 million in just 2 years, one of his accountants said
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Donald Trump reported a $900 million loss over 2009 and 2010, one of his accountants testified, per Bloomberg. Donald Bender also said the Trump Organization reported yearly losses from 2009 to 2018, per ABC. Donald Bender, who worked on the company's taxes for 35 years, testified Tuesday that Trump had almost $700 million in losses on his personal tax returns in 2009 and $200 million in 2010, the publication reported. He also said that the Trump Organization reported losses each year between 2009 and 2018, per ABC. Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August to hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in executive pay each year from tax authorities.

☆ Trump Organization's outside accountant testifies he 'would have had a heart attack' if he'd seen the 'secret' Christmas bonus lists
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He testified Tuesday he "would have had a heart attack" if he'd seen how the company paid X-mas bonuses. Executives got bonuses in piecemeal checks signed by Trump, in what the DA says was a tax-dodge. For example, in 2015, the Trump Organization paid out $1.1 million in executive bonuses and paid Allen Weisselberg, its chief financial officer, a $300,000 bonus, according to documents. Careful records were kept internally of how company bonuses were paid, some titled "The Trump Organization Christmas Bonuses." The accounting firm severed ties with Trump and the Trump Organization earlier this year, citing a history of financial "discrepancies" at the company.

But Bender on Tuesday testified that Weisselberg assured him that the details he provided to prepare his tax returns were accurate and did not warrant further investigation. "I did due diligence, we had frank conversations and he said he felt it was appropriate and it was his tax return," Bender told jurors. The Trump Organization has pleaded not guilty. Weisselberg testified last week that he knew he was not an independent contractor. Mazars in February dropped the Trump Organization as a client and said it could no longer stand behind a decade of Trump's financial statements.

Trump, a Republican, has accused James, a Democrat, of suing him because she dislikes him and his politics. The Trump Organization is now on trial in another Manhattan courtroom on criminal tax fraud charges. Trump also faces a criminal investigation in Georgia into whether he interfered with the 2020 election results in that state. "Who stands to gain from this highly-politicized farse [sic], aside from the politically-compromised Attorney General of the State of New York?" Both testified as prosecution witnesses in the Manhattan criminal trial in which prosecutors accused the company of engaging in tax fraud spanning 15 years.

The company, which has pleaded not guilty, could face up to $1.6 million in fines for the three tax fraud counts and six other counts it faces, if convicted. The first witness called by the defense was Donald Bender, an accountant with the firm Mazars who handled the Trump Organization's taxes. Bender was granted immunity from prosecution for testifying before the grand jury that indicted the company and Weisselberg. Bender said he prepared tax returns for Weisselberg and his family members free of charge as an "accommodation." Mazars in February dropped the company as a client and said it could no longer stand behind a decade of Trump's financial statements.

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