Allen Weisselberg, the former CFO of the Trump Organization, said said under oath Friday that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump knew he was engaging in tax fraud on behalf of the company yet gave him a $200,000 a year raise after they found out about his crimes.
The New York Post reports that Don Jr. and Eric discovered Weisselberg’s illegal actions in 2017. Specifically, he and two other top Trump Org. executives were getting perks they didn’t report as income on their taxes, but the ex-president’s sons weren’t upset by the discovery.
The sons learned of the tax cheating during a “cleanup process” the company underwent with tax auditors when Trump took office as president, Weisselberg said.
When prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked the longtime chief financial officer if the Trump Org. demoted or punished him in light of the discovery, he said no.
“Were you in fact given a raise … that totaled approximately $200,000?” Hoffinger asked.
“Correct,” Weisselberg replied on his final day of testimony.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August of accepting $1.7 million worth of unreported benefits that included free rent on an expensive apartment on the Upper West Side, luxury cars, and private school tuition payments for his grandchildren.
The Trump Organization is accused of helping Weisselberg and other top managers cheat on their taxes for 15 years by falsifying reports to the government.
Today’s revelations come as Trump, his children, and his company are facing massive civil penalties in a case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. If Trump Org. is found guilty in that case, the company could face massive financial penalties and the imposition of a economic “death penalty” that prohibit them from ever doing business in the state of New York again. Trump Org. is headquartered in the Empire State even though the failed former president now lives in Palm Beach, Florida, at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The one-term, twice-impeached ex-president it also facing the prospect of being charged under the Espionage Act for hoarding classified documents at Mar-a-Lago in violation of federal law.
