Allen Weisselberg, former chief financial officer of the Trump organization, was sentenced to five months in jail on Tuesday for his involvement in the company’s tax-fraud scheme.
Weisselberg, 75, will be transferred to New York’s Rikers Island jail complex on Tuesday to serve out his sentence.
In August, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Weisselberg’s guilty plea for “devising and operating a 15-year scheme to defraud federal, New York State, and New York City tax authorities, evading payment of taxes due on $1.76 million in unreported income” during his time at the Trump enterprise.
As part of the plea deal, Weisselberg was asked to testify as the state’s witness against the company, reimburse two million dollars in back taxes, interest and penalties, and waive any right to appeal, CNN reported. Weisselberg has reportedly already started paying the money he owes by court order. If Weisselberg hadn’t entered the plea bargain, he could have faced a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison.
One example of his tax evasion was his failure to report off-the-books compensation summing to about $200,000 in one year, which included a luxury Manhattan apartment, two Mercedes Benz car leases, parking, utilities, furniture and private school tuition for his grandchildren, CNN reported.
The disgraced executive was first indicted in July 2021 on 15 charges of grand larceny, criminal tax fraud, scheme to defraud, conspiracy, falsifying business records and offering a false instrument for filing, Forbes noted.
In December, a criminal court jury in Manhattan convicted the Trump Corporation on nine criminal counts and the Trump Payroll Corporation on eight criminal counts. Both entities fall under the Trump Organization.
The Trump Organization will be sentenced on Friday for the charges leveled against it. The company could potentially face massive fines of up to $1.6 million. Weisselberg still works for the Trump Organization although not as CFO. The company is placing him on paid leave for the duration of his prison time, Reuters reported.