Trump Organisation CFO Allen Weisselberg jailed for tax fraud

Allen Weisselberg told Trump Organisation trial off-the-books benefits were paid to employees, some perks authorised by Donald Trump.

Former Trump Organization Executive Allen Weisselberg and his lawyer Nicholas Gravante arrive for a sentencing hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court. Picture: Getty Images via AFP.

Former Trump Organization finance chief Allen Weisselberg was sentenced Tuesday to five months in jail for tax crimes he committed at the company, after serving as the star witness in a tax-fraud trial that resulted in the conviction of his longtime employer.

Mr. Weisselberg, 75 years old, pleaded guilty in August to 15 felonies for participating in a scheme to compensate certain Trump Organization employees, including himself, with off-the-books benefits to evade taxes. Mr. Weisselberg also admitted that from 2005 through 2021, he failed to report $1.76 million in benefits to tax authorities. This unreported compensation came in the form of a rent-free Manhattan apartment, multiple leased Mercedes-Benz cars, home furnishings and private-school tuition for his grandchildren, Manhattan prosecutors said.

Under the terms of Mr. Weisselberg’s plea agreement with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, he is to serve his five-month sentence at New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex, followed by five years’ probation, in exchange for testifying truthfully at the Trump Organization’s trial. He will also be required to pay about $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest to New York City and state tax authorities.

When the Trump Organization went on trial this fall for tax crimes, Mr. Weisselberg told jurors that he knew that off-the-books benefits were being paid and that some perks had been authorised by Donald Trump himself.

A prosecutor asked why he hadn’t disclosed the tax arrangement to his accounting firm.

“They wouldn’t sign my tax return and prepare it,” he told the jury.

Following the trial, two Trump Organization entities were convicted of tax fraud and other offences. They are scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, facing a maximum fine of about $1.6 million. Mr. Trump wasn’t charged in the case.

Lawyers for the company have said they would appeal. Mr. Trump has said the case was politically motivated. Company defence attorneys said the former president relied on an outside accounting firm.

To prepare for the sentencing, Mr. Weisselberg hired consultant Craig Rothfeld, founder of prison advisory firm Inside Outside Ltd. Mr. Rothfeld, who has served time in prison himself, said much of what he told Mr. Weisselberg was related to day-to-day jail life that is a mystery to those on the outside: the process of going from court to Rikers on Tuesday, and expectations around phone calls, food, packages and books.

He also spoke to Mr. Weisselberg about safety at Rikers. “It’s one of these unwritten codes that people who are over 60 years old are accorded a different level of respect,” Mr. Rothfeld said. “I just told him, ‘Keep to yourself, don’t insert yourself into conversations that you’re not a part of, and be respectful to everybody.’”

Dow Jones