(RoyalPatriot.com )- Allen Weisselberg, the ex-CFO of the Trump Organization, testified late last week that former President Donald Trump and his two oldest sons — Donald Jr. and Eric — didn’t know the checks they were signing were fraudulent.
Weisselberg testified last Thursday for the second day in a row as part of a criminal trial into the Trump family business that’s being held in New York City. The 75-year-old said that those three Trump men signed the checks, but were not in the loop that the CFO was committing fraud.
Instead, Weisselberg testified that the only other person at the Trump Organization who was aware of the tax fraud scheme was Jeffrey McConney, who served as the company’s controller.
During cross-examination from Alan Futerfas, the attorney representing Trump in the case, Weisselberg responded “no” to two different questions:
First, was he given permission by Trump or any other person in the Trump organization to “commit tax fraud;” and second, “Did you conspire with the Trump family?”
Weisselberg went even further than that, though. He said he was taking the different perks from the Trump Organization off the books for his own benefit, and not that of the Trump Organization. Futerfas asked him whether he was not paying takes “solely to benefit Allen Weisselberg,” and he replied “correct.”
While the CFO did admit that the Trump Organization benefitted financially from his actions, but added:
“It was my own personal greed that led to this.”
Weisselberg may have been serving as the key witness for the prosecution in the case, but it certainly didn’t seem that way in the cross-examination exchange with Futerfas.
Last April, Weisselberg was indicted in addition to the Trump Organization as a whole. The government described the situation as a scheme that lasted 15 years and that cheated the government out of loads of tax money.
Back in August, Weisselberg then pleaded guilty to his charges. He agreed to testify for the prosecution in return for a lower sentence. Part of his deal was that he would be forced to testify in the case, but wouldn’t need to testify against the Trumps necessarily.
He was only required “to testify truthfully at the upcoming trial of the Trump Organization.” If he didn’t do so, he would face between five and 15 years in jail. His plea deal will see him serve only five months in prison, and then five years on probation.
The scheme resulted in Weisselberg receiving about $1.76 million in what is being called “indirect employee compensation.” Some of his perks included new furniture, tuition to private schools for his grandchildren, luxury cars and an apartment that was rent free.
Some other executives at the company received perks that were similar to this and were also paid bonuses as independent contractors rather than employees, which ultimately saved the Trump Organization in payroll taxes.
During testimony, Weisselberg said that Trump knew of these perks that he was getting from the company, and that his sons Donald Jr. and Eric signed the checks.
However, it was during cross-examination that Weisselberg said McConney was the only other person at the company who knew that Weisselberg wasn’t paying his fair share of taxes on these perks.
