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Prosecutors have uncovered a slice of evidence in the basement of a co-conspirator in the Trump Organization tax fraud case, defense attorney for indicted CFO Allen Weisselberg revealed in court on Monday, the lawyer also pointing out that more shoes are still to be made. decline in the ongoing investigation in New York.
“We have good reason to believe that there may be more charges ahead,” Weisselberg’s attorney Bryan C. Skarlatos said in Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday.
Skarlatos also referred to a private conversation that Weisselberg, along with his defense attorneys and prosecutors, had with the judge before the proceedings opened to the public, revealing that prosecutors had uncovered tax documents relating to the company of Donald Trump in the basement of an anonymous co-conspirator. .
It’s unclear who this co-conspirator might be, but according to two sources close to the investigation, prosecutors took a closer look at Matthew Calamari, a Trump bodyguard who rose through the ranks to become the leader of the business operation. Others have speculated that it could be Jeff McConney, the company’s controller who has long been Weisselberg’s deputy and who has already testified before the grand jury.
Weisselberg and the Trump Organization were indicted on June 30 in a New York state court and charged with criminal tax evasion, falsification of business records, robbery and conspiracy to defraud the government. In the indictment, prosecutors alleged that the Trump Organization had a 15-year program in which it paid high-level executives a huge chunk of their actual “official” salaries.
Such a scheme, in theory, would benefit the company because it could give officers benefits instead of salary increases to avoid payroll taxes.
The indictment is the culmination of a three-year investigation by Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Cy Vance, who has since partnered with New York Attorney General Letitia James. The two are trying to nail Trump, his company and his officers for false real estate appraisals and tax evasion.
Weisselberg is not the only executive on investigators’ radar, but the one indicted so far. The indictment describes him as “one of the greatest individual beneficiaries” of the alleged tax evasion scheme, having allegedly withheld $ 1.76 million in “indirect employee compensation” he received from the Trump Organization from 2005 to 2017.
At Monday’s hearing, Weisselberg’s lawyers attempted to postpone a possible trial, asking for much more time to review what they determined to be more than 3 million documents identified as evidence in this case. The state judge presiding over the case, Judge Juan Merchan, has agreed to slow the pace of the case and tentatively scheduled a trial in August or September next year.
In court, Skarlatos expressed concern that his client could become “collateral damage” in a fight between the Trump Organization and the DA.
But Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Solomon Shinerock told the judge Weisselberg “is not an innocent party victim of collateral damage here.” He noted that this is a fairly clear case of “executives hiding their compensation in order to evade their tax obligations” and that “Allen Weisselberg is no stranger to these documents” because “Mr. Weisselberg is the boss.”
The other lawyer for Skarlatos and Weisselberg, Mary E. Mulligan, released a statement during the court hearing: “We have studied the indictment and it is full of unsubstantiated and erroneous factual and legal claims regarding Allen Weisselberg. We look forward to challenging these claims in court. “
But that trial might not go ahead if prosecutors get what they want. Three sources close to the investigation say prosecutors are in fact trying to turn him as a witness against their real target: his longtime boss, former President Trump.
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