Trump Money Man Allen Weisselberg Pleads Guilty To Tax Fraud

NEW YORK CITY — Donald Trump's top money man pleaded guilty to a slew of tax fraud charges Thursday and will cooperate with an upcoming criminal trial against the former president's company, prosecutors said.

Allen Weisselberg, 75, will serve five months in jail after his plea, said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Weisselberg is the longtime chief financial officer for the Trump Organization. He stood accused of accepting more than $1.7 million in off-the-books compensation.

“Instead of paying his fair share like everyone else, Weisselberg had the Trump Organization provide him with a rent-free apartment, expensive cars, private school tuition for his grandchildren and new furniture – all without paying required taxes," Bragg said in a statement. "This plea agreement directly implicates the Trump Organization in a wide range of criminal activity and requires Weisselberg to provide invaluable testimony in the upcoming trial against the corporation."

The plea adds to the legal problems swirling around Trump, who faces — among other inquiries — a probe into classified documents he stored at his Mar-a-Lago residence, a civil investigation by state Attorney General Letitia James, a high-profile congressional hearing about his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection and accusations he and his associates tried to meddle in Georgia's general election in 2020.

Weisselberg served as a close business confidante to Trump. His plea directly implicated Trump's company in a 15-year scheme to avoid paying taxes on his income, prosecutors said.

The Trump Organization gave Weisselberg unreported benefits such as paying rent on a Riverside Boulevard apartment, giving him several Mercedes Benz vehicles, covering his grandchildren's private school tuition, offering furnishings for his apartment and home in Florida, as well as cold hard cash, authorities said.

Such income should have been reported as taxable, but prosecutors said Weisselberg and the Trump Organization didn't.

James, in a statement, said the case against Weisselberg shows "zero tolerance" for people who defraud the state and cheat communities.

"For years, Mr. Weisselberg broke the law to line his own pockets and fund a lavish lifestyle," he said. "Today, that misconduct ends. Let this guilty plea send a loud and clear message: we will crack down on anyone who steals from the public for personal gain because no one is above the law.”