Trump executive Weisselberg pleads guilty to tax fraud
Al JazeeraWeissellberg has spent decades at the Trump Organization, his plea deal may compel him totestify against the company. The former chief financial officer of Donald Trump’s company, Allen Weisselberg, has pleaded guilty to tax violations in a deal that would require him to testify about illicit business practices at the Trump Organization. Weisselberg’s lawyer Nicholas Gravante Jr said his client pleaded guilty “to put an end to this case and the years-long legal and personal nightmares it has caused for him and his family”. Prosecutors said Weisselberg concealed and avoided taxes on $1.76m of income including rent for a Manhattan apartment, lease payments for two Mercedes-Benz vehicles, and tuition for family members, with Trump signing the tuition checks. Two days later, Trump was deposed in New York Attorney General Letitia James’s civil probe into his business but repeatedly refused to answer questions, citing his Fifth Amendment US Constitutional right against self-incrimination.