Donald Trump’s company fined $1.6m for tax fraud

New York — A New York judge on Friday sentenced Donald Trump’s namesake real estate company to pay a maximum $1.61m (R27m) criminal penalty after it was convicted of scheming to defraud tax authorities for 15 years.

Justice Juan Merchan of the Manhattan criminal court imposed the sentence after jurors found two Trump Organization affiliates guilty of 17 criminal charges last month.

Merchan on Tuesday sentenced Allen Weisselberg, who worked for Trump’s family for half acentury and was the company’s former CFO, to five months in jail after he testified as the prosecution’s star witness.

Susan Necheles, one of the defence lawyers, said Trump’s company plans to appeal. No-one else was charged or faces jail time in the case.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, which brought the case, is still conducting a criminal probe into Trump’s business practices.

“While corporations can’t serve jail time, this consequential conviction and sentencing serves as a reminder to corporations and executives that you cannot defraud tax authorities and get away with it,” Bragg said in a statement.
Reuters