曼哈顿陪审团发现前总统唐纳德·特朗普的特朗普宣布第三次竞选总统三周后，同名房地产公司犯有刑事税务欺诈罪。
陪审团认定特朗普组织的两个实体在所有指控上都有罪，包括欺诈阴谋、共谋、刑事税务欺诈和伪造商业记录。
这两个实体——特朗普公司和特朗普薪资公司——被指控支付一些高管的个人费用却没有举报他们作为收入，并作为独立承包人而不是全职员工来补偿他们。
重罪定罪的罚款总额高达170万美元。但间接后果可能对特朗普更重要，他是寻求连任在白宫。如果银行的内部政策阻止他们与重罪犯做生意，银行可以收回贷款，商业伙伴可以取消合同。
审判还揭示了特朗普潜在的令人尴尬的细节，包括他报告的近10亿美元的运营损失在2009年和2010年的两年时间里，以及在2009年至2018年的十年间，每年都有亏损——在同一年的一些时间里，特朗普在真人秀电视节目中宣传他的商业智慧，并竞选总统。
检察官认为特朗普集团是有罪的，因为首席财务官艾伦·魏斯勒伯格的行为使公司受益，而且他作为首席财务官的职位意味着他被委托代表公司行事。
作为认罪协议的一部分，Weisselberg作证说，8月认罪指控他逃避公司提供的近200万美元的额外津贴，包括他在曼哈顿公寓的租金、他自己和妻子的汽车租赁费以及他孙子的学费。
“在曼哈顿，我们对所有人都有一个公正的标准，”曼哈顿地区检察官阿尔文·布拉格在宣读判决后告诉记者。“这是一个关于撒谎、欺骗和伪造文件的案件，目的是为个人和公司逃税。他们现在已经在法庭上被追究责任。”
“对曼哈顿的判决感到失望，”特朗普本人在一份声明中说，称该案是“我国历史上最大的政治迫害的延续。”
“纽约市是一个很难成为‘特朗普’的地方，因为企业和人们逃离了我们这个曾经伟大的城市!”他补充道。
特朗普集团的一名发言人在一份声明中告诉美国广播公司新闻部，“韦斯伯格先生宣誓作证说，他‘背叛了’公司对他的信任，他在任何时候都是为了他的‘个人利益’和出于他的‘个人贪婪’。认为公司要为员工的行为负责，让他们自己受益，这种想法简直是荒谬的。”
特朗普组织律师苏珊·内切莱斯(Susan Necheles)表示，该公司将对判决提起上诉。
“这个案子完全是关于艾伦·魏斯勒伯格在他的个人纳税申报单上犯了税务欺诈罪。每一个证人都反复作证说，特朗普总统和特朗普家人对艾伦·魏斯勒伯格的行为一无所知，”她说。“为什么一家公司的所有者对Weisselberg的个人纳税申报单一无所知，却因Allen Weisselberg的个人行为而受到刑事起诉，因为他们对这些行为没有任何了解或监督?这是史无前例的，在法律上是不正确的。”
Weisselberg在审判中作证说他减少了他申报的工资公司支付的个人费用总额，公司因支付较少的工资税而受益。他还作证说他的主要动机是贪婪。
“控方的理由基于一件事:试图说服你们这些陪审员，韦斯伯格先生的行为是代表公司的，”内切莱斯在审判中告诉陪审团。“他们没有。他们这样做完全是为了他自己。这是本案的关键问题。”
然而，检察官坚持认为，特朗普集团受益于魏斯尔伯格的逃税。
“迄今为止最显著的好处...这使得这些公司支付给高管的薪酬比他们原本应该得到的要低，”检察官乔希·斯坦格拉斯告诉陪审团。
虽然特朗普本人不是被告，但他的名字反复出现在审判期间，陪审团看到了他签署的支票和备忘录。前总统公开否认有任何不当行为。
辩护律师向证人询问了大约60次特朗普对其公司被指控的税收计划的了解，因为他们试图表明特朗普对其高管的欺诈行为一无所知。辩护律师迈克尔·范德维恩(Michael van der Veen)周五在结案陈词中表示，陪审员“在本案中没有听到特朗普或他的任何孩子知道任何不当行为的证据。”
但检察官辩称，特朗普明确认可税务欺诈，因为他签署完毕这是计划的一部分。根据向陪审团展示的支票，特朗普支付的费用中，有大约10万美元用于魏斯勒伯格的两个孙子上哥伦比亚文法学校。
Weisselberg作证说，作为特朗普当选总统时“清理过程”的一部分，该公司在2017年停止为他和其他高管支付个人费用。检察官表示，该公司知道这种做法是错误的，但允许它继续下去，直到特朗普的竞选和总统任期带来新的审查。
“我们正在对该公司进行整个清理过程，以确保特朗普先生现在是总统，一切都在妥善进行，”魏斯尔伯格作证说。
“唐纳德·特朗普幸福地一无所知的整个故事不是真的，”斯坦格拉斯在闭幕词中说。
Jury finds Trump Organization guilty of tax fraud on all counts
A Manhattan jury has found former PresidentDonald Trump'snamesake real estate company guilty of criminal tax fraud, three weeks after Trump announced a third presidential run.
The jury found the two entities of the Trump Organization guilty as charged on all counts, including scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records.
The two entities -- the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation -- were accused of paying the personal expenses of some executiveswithout reporting themas income, and of compensating them as independent contractors instead of full-time employees.
The felony convictions carry fines totaling up to $1.7 million. But the collateral consequences may be more significant to Trump, who isseeking a second termin the White House. Banks could call in loans and business partners could cancel contracts if their internal policies prevent them from doing business with felons.
The trial also revealed potentially embarrassing details about Trump, including that he reported nearly$1 billion in operating lossesover a two-year period in 2009 and 2010, as well as losses each year for the decade between 2009 and 2018 -- some of the same years Trump was touting his business acumen on reality television and as he was campaigning for president.
Prosecutors believed the Trump Organization was culpable because the conduct of CFO Allen Weisselberg benefitted the company and because his position as CFO meant he was entrusted to act on the company's behalf.
Weisselberg, who testified as part of a plea deal,pleaded guilty in Augustto charges that he skirted taxes on nearly $2 million in company-provided perks that included the rent on his Manhattan apartment, the leases on cars for himself and his wife and tuition for his grandchildren.
"In Manhattan, we have one standard of justice for all," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told reporters after the verdict was read. "This was a case about lying and cheating and false documents to the end of evading taxes for the individuals and the corporations. They've now been held accountable in a court of law."
"Disappointed with the verdict in Manhattan," Trump himself said in a statement, calling the case "a continuation of the Greatest Political Witch Hunt in the History of our Country."
"New York City is a hard place to be 'Trump,' as businesses and people flee our once Great City!" he added.
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization told ABC News in a statement, "Mr. Weisselberg testified under oath that he 'betrayed' the trust the company had placed in him and that he, at all times, acted 'solely' for his 'own personal gain' and out of his 'own personal greed'. The notion that a company could be held responsible for an employee's actions, to benefit themselves, on their own personal tax returns is simply preposterous."
Trump Organization attorney Susan Necheles said the company will appeal the verdict.
"This case was all about Allen Weisselberg committing tax fraud on his personal tax returns. Every witness repeatedly testified that President Trump and the Trump family knew nothing about Allen Weisselberg's actions," she said. "Why would a corporation whose owner knew nothing about Weisselberg's personal tax returns be criminally prosecuted for Allen Weisselberg's personal conduct, for which they had no visibility or oversight? This case was unprecedented and legally incorrect."
Weisselberg testified at trial that hereduced his reported salaryby the total amount of the personal expenses that the company covered, and that the company benefitted by paying less in payroll taxes. He also testified that his primary motive was greed.
"The prosecution's case rests on one thing: trying to convince you, the jurors, that Mr. Weisselberg's actions were done in behalf of the company," Necheles told the jury during the trial. "They were not. They were done solely to benefit himself. And that is the critical issue in this case."
Prosecutors, however, insisted that the Trump Organization benefitted from Weisselberg's tax dodge.
"By far the most significant benefit ... is that it allowed these companies to pay their top executives less than they otherwise would have," prosecutor Josh Steinglass told jurors.
Although Trump himself was not a defendant, his namecame up repeatedlyduring the trial, and the jury saw checks he signed and memos he endorsed. The former president has publicly denied any wrongdoing.
Defense attorneys asked witnesses roughly 60 times about Trump's knowledge of the tax scheme that his company was charged with, as they sought to show that Trump was in the dark about the fraud being committed by his top executives. Defense attorney Michael van der Veen said in his closing statement Friday that jurors "heard no evidence in this case that Mr. Trump or any of his children were aware of anything improper."
But prosecutors contended that Trump explicitly sanctioned tax fraud when hesigned offon part of the scheme. Among the expenses that Trump covered was approximately $100,000 per year for Weisselberg's two grandchildren to attend Columbia Grammar School, according to checks that were displayed to the jury.
Weisselberg testified that the company stopped paying personal expenses for him and other executives in 2017 as part of a "cleanup process" when Trump was elected president. Prosecutors suggested that the company knew the practice was wrong but allowed it to continue until Trump's campaign and presidency brought new scrutiny.
"We were going through an entire cleanup process of the company to make sure that since Mr. Trump is now president that everything was being done properly," Weisselberg testified.
"This whole narrative that Donald Trump is blissfully ignorant is just not true," Steinglass said during his closing statement.
