The Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded not guilty to tax-related charges after being indicted by a grand jury.
According to The Hill, Weisselberg pleaded not guilty to the 15 charges, including tax fraud, conspiracy, grand larceny, and falsifying business records. Both he and the Trump organization have denied wrongdoing.
He was led past reporters in handcuffs as he made his way to court.
Longtime Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg is escorted into court in handcuffs after being charged with tax fraud, according to an indictment unsealed today. https://t.co/SaDjlNQQKZ pic.twitter.com/YiwDHDFkON
— ABC News (@ABC) July 1, 2021
The indictment, unsealed on Thursday afternoon, accuses the Trump organization and Weisselberg of engaging in a “scheme constituting a systemic ongoing course of conduct with intent to defraud more than one person and to obtain property from more than one person by false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises.”
NOW: Here is the unsealed indictment against the Trump Organization and CFO Allen Weisselberg. More to come. https://t.co/utM7V6hV82 pic.twitter.com/7mezw9taJP
— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) July 1, 2021
Carey Dunne, an attorney in the district attorney’s office, said in court on Thursday, “As spelled out in the indictment, this was a fifteen year-long tax fraud scheme, involving off the books payments, which is a type of crime that’s charged against companies and executives all the time.”
She added, “Contrary to today’s assertion by the company’s former CEO this is not a ‘standard practice in the business community,’ nor was it the act of a rogue or isolated employee.”
Dunne claimed “it was orchestrated by the most senior executives, who were financially benefiting themselves and the company by getting secret pay raises at the expense of state and federal taxpayers.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James released a statement responding to the indictment.
“Today is an important marker in the ongoing criminal investigation of the Trump Organization and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg,” James said.
She continued, “In the indictment, we allege, among other things, financial wrongdoing whereby the Trump Organization engaged in a scheme with Mr. Weisselberg to avoid paying taxes on certain compensation. This investigation will continue, and we will follow the facts and the law wherever they may lead.”
My statement on today’s indictment: pic.twitter.com/Z4jBsVrrlP
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) July 1, 2021
A prosecutor from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said Weisselberg personally “avoided taxes” on compensation as high at $1.76 million, as CNBC reports.
According to the indictment, the scheme lasted from March 2005 through the end of this month.
The former president said in a statement, “The political Witch Hunt by the Radical Left Democrats, with New York now taking over the assignment, continues.”
He added, “It is dividing our Country like never before!”