Former United States President Donald Trump’s family real estate company has been found guilty of tax crimes.
The Trump Organization was convicted on all counts on Tuesday, after two days of jury deliberations in New York.
The business is synonymous with the former president, but neither Trump nor his family members were personally on trial.
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The company was convicted of enriching its top executives with off-the-books benefits for more than a decade.
Professional said the untaxed perks included luxury cars and private school fees and that this made up for lower salaries and therefore, reduced the amount of tax the business was required to pay.
During the six-week trial, the Trump Organization – which operates hotels, golf courses and other properties around the world, was also accused of having a “culture of fraud and deception”.
The prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, told the jury during closing arguments, that the company ran a scheme that allowed some executives to “understate their compensation,” so that their taxes “were significantly less than the amounts that should have been paid”, in a bid to buy loyalty.
Two subsidiaries of the Trump Organization – Trump Corp and Trump Payroll Corp – were convicted on all 17 charges of tax fraud and falsifying business records.
The company is expected to face a fine of around $1.6m, and may also face difficulty in securing loans and financing in the future.
Trump has criticised the trial as politically motivated, and he also attacked his long-serving former chief financial executive, Allen Weisselberg, after he pleaded guilty in August and testified against the business.
A lawyer for the company has said it would appeal the conviction.
Source: BBC
(Editor: Ifeanyi Mark)
