One witness in the probing in New York against the Trump Org has made a statement that former President Donald Trump personally guaranteed he would cover school costs for the family members of two employees in lieu of a raise-directly implicating the former president in an ongoing criminal tax fraud case.
According to two anonymous sources, Jennifer Weisselberg, the former wife of a longtime company employee, made the stunning allegations on Friday. She was also the former daughter-in-law to arraigned Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg.
Free Tuition Fee Instead of Raise
Jennifer claimed that rather than increasing a salary that could be taxed, Trump personally guaranteed that he would pay school tuition for her two children.
They key details are as follows: In Trump's office in January 2021, at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, Jennifer witnessed the former president discussing compensation with her husband and her father-in-law. Her husband would not be receiving a raise. However, their children were guaranteed to get their tuition paid for a top private school.
According to depictions of the call, Jennifer also remarked that the former president told her not to worry. Unreported perks including forms of "indirect compensation" such as tuition payments are at the central point of the New York investigation's charges against the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, reported The Week.
As part of a case that the Trump organization and its longtime CFO have been arraigned for, this divulged statement could bolster charges that prosecutors could set forth against the former president.
Manhattan prosecutors are probing whether the company engaged in tax and financial fraud and whether Trump Org executives illegally took benefits while evading taxes on them, reported Business Insider.
One source noted that prosecutors were stunned. Two sources stated that among the prosecutors on the call were Mark F. Pomerantz, a white collar crime specialist assigned for the probing; Carey Dunne, the Manhattan district attorney's general counsel; and Gary Fishman, an assistant attorney general filling in to work on the joint probing, reported The Daily Beast.
Trump's company was arraigned five days following the interview of Jennifer on tax fraud arraignments associated with unreported fringe benefits. These are such as those she described. Her allegations would directly associate the one-term president to the scheme.
Trump was not personally indicted in the initial arraignment. Allen Weisselberg and the Trump Org have pleaded not guilty to tax crimes and fraud charges.
Prosecutors in July declared a 15-count arraignment accusing Weisselberg and the Trump Organization of orchestrating a scheme wherein he would accept corporate gifts including tuition and apartment payments to stand for greater salaries. Such action evades paying plenty of taxes for its employees and the company.
The New York criminal arraignment was described as a corporate scheme to pay executives "off the books."
Related Article: Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg Dismissed From Senior Positions But Will Remain in the Company
