Trump Org ‘cheated’ on taxes for 15 years, prosecutors say at NYC trial

The Trump Organization cheated tax authorities for 15 years by bankrolling big perks for top executives — including apartments and luxury cars, Manhattan prosecutors said as the real estate company’s criminal trial got underway Monday.

Former President Donald Trump’s firm used the perks to pay its executives — without reporting those benefits — as part of an alleged scheme to avoid paying taxes between at least 2005 and 2021, Assistant District Attorney Susan Hoffinger said in her opening statements in Manhattan Supreme Court.

“This case is about greed and cheating, cheating on taxes,” Hoffinger told jurors.

“The scheme was conducted, directed and authorized at the highest levels of the accounting department at the company.”

The ex-president’s namesake company benefited from the alleged plot by keeping its “trusted” chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, happy and avoiding some taxes, the prosecutor said.

“Everybody wins here,” Hoffinger said. “Of course, everybody but the tax authorities. The problem with doing it this way is that it’s not legal.”

The case is expected to largely hinge on the prosecution’s star witness, Weisselberg, who agreed to testify after pleading guilty in August to fraudulently accepting $1.7 million “off the books” from the company.

https://nypost.com/2022/10/31/trump-organization-cheated-tax-authorities-for-15-years-prosecutor/