Donald Trump’s money man Allen Weisselberg jailed for lying
Loyal deputy to the former president will spend five months in the notorious Rikers Island prison.
Donald Trump’s longtime finance chief has been sentenced to five months in prison for lying to a judge about his former boss’s finances.
Allen Weisselberg, who worked for the Trump Organisation for nearly half a century, is set to serve out his sentence on perjury charges at the notorious Rikers Island prison.
Weisselberg, 76, who appeared in Manhattan criminal court wearing a blue tracksuit, received a reduced sentence after an agreement with prosecutors in which he admitted inflating the value of Mr Trump’s New York penthouse apartment.
The sentence marks the second stint in prison for Mr Trump’s longtime loyal deputy, and ends a years-long legal saga.
Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the former president’s real estate and entertainment group from 2005 to 2021, spent about three months in jail last year after pleading guilty to participating in a 15-year tax fraud scheme at the Trump Organisation. The perjury charges stem from Weisselberg’s testimony at a civil fraud case brought by Letitia James, New York state’s Attorney-General, against Mr Trump, Weisselberg and other executives at Mr Trump’s real estate company. The case accused the company of manipulating property values to dupe lenders and insurers.
Weisselberg testified at the trial in October that he was not involved in an incorrect valuation of Mr Trump’s Manhattan townhouse. Mr Trump’s 2015 and 2016 financial statements valued the unit at $US327m based on its stated size of more than 10,000sq m – nearly three times the actual size.
Weisselberg’s testimony helped the government to secure the conviction of the Trump Organisation and its sister firm Trump Payroll Corp on 17 similar fraud and tax evasion charges that involved falsifying business records. Although he testified against the company, Weisselberg did not implicate the former president, who is again running for the White House this year.
Rikers has a reputation for being the most dangerous place to be detained in America. More than a dozen detainees have died in recent years.
“Allen Weisselberg accepted responsibility for his conduct and now looks forward to the end of this life-altering experience and to returning to his family and his retirement,” said his lawyer, Seth L Rosenberg.
Mr Trump’s lawyers have previously denounced the prosecution of Weisselberg, arguing that he is an innocent victim of the wide-ranging scrutiny of the presumptive Republican nominee.
The jailing comes with Mr Trump due to go on trial on Monday for covering up hush-money payments to hide a sex scandal.
He is charged with concealing $US130,000 in hush money paid to adult actress Stormy Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter.
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