The Trump Tower entrance on 5th Avenue is pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York City, May 19, 2021.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
Two affiliates of the Trump Organization were convicted Tuesday by a jury in New York City of multiple crimes, including tax fraud, falsifying business records and conspiracy.
The convictions on all 17 charges come weeks after the company’s owner, Republican former President Donald Trump, ran for the White House in the 2024 election.
Trump was not personally a defendant in the case, which related to a plan by his company to evade taxes on compensation in the form of perks, including free apartments and luxury cars, to then-CFO Allen Weisselberg and other executives since 2005 .
But a prosecutor said in closing arguments last week that Trump “knew exactly what was going on.”
A Manhattan Supreme Court jury began deliberations on Monday following a trial that included testimony from Weisselberg, the only person actually charged in the case.
Defense attorneys had argued that Weisselberg — who previously pleaded guilty to 15 felonies — was solely responsible for the plan, not the Trump Organization.
Trump’s company faces fines of up to $1.6 million if convicted in the case. The guilty verdicts could also hurt the company’s ability to obtain loans for its various real estate holdings and other business ventures.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg exits the courtroom of the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse following the ruling in the Trump Organization criminal tax trial in New York City, December 6, 2022.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
Trump, three of his adult children, and the Trump Organization also face a civil lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James for large-scale fraud related to years of false financial statements related to the company. James is seeking at least $250 million in damages in that case.
One of the subsidiaries charged in the criminal case, the Trump Corporation, was convicted of nine counts. The other defendant, the Trump Payroll Corporation, was convicted of the remaining seven charges.
Trump, in a post on his Truth Social account Tuesday before the verdicts were announced, falsely described crime rates in his native New York City as he accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of prosecuting his firm.
“Murder and violent crime are at an all-time high in NYC, and the district attorney’s office has spent nearly all of its time and money fighting a DC political witch hunt against ‘Trump’ over benefits,” Trump wrote.
The former president is at the center of multiple criminal investigations, including federal investigations into his removal of government documents from the White House and his efforts to reverse the outcome of his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.
A grand state jury in Georgia is investigating Trump and his allies for trying to get election officials there to reverse his loss in the state to Biden.
