Trump Organization sentenced to pay $1.6M for felony convictions
Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corporation were found guilty of distributing expensive 'off the books' perks as compensation for high-level associates
Trump Organization $1.6M sentence not enough, DA Alvin Bragg says
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the $1.6 million sentence handed down against the Trump Organization Friday is not enough, though he also called it "historic." (WNYN)
The Trump Organization received its sentencing Friday at the New York Supreme Court after being found guilty of a slew of tax fraud-related felonies last year.
The organization has been ordered to pay $1.6 million in fines, $800,000 for each of the two entities found guilty in the case. The company has 14 days to pay the financial penalties.
Two companies within the Trump Organization were found guilty on a range of financial crime charges last month.
A NYPD car waits at the Trump Tower on Oct. 24, 2022 in New York City. The Trump Organization trial begins in Manhattan following years of investigations that places former President Trump's business before a jury. (Photo by Leonardo Munoz/VIEWpress / Getty Images)
Manhattan district attorney prosecutors proved in court that the company dodged significant tax obligations by compensating high-level associates with expensive perks. Luxury cars, apartments, private school tuition, and other "off the books" gifts were distributed throughout the approximately 15-year scheme.
A New York jury took approximately 10 hours to find Trump Corporation guilty of nine felonies and Trump Payroll Corporation guilty of eight felonies related to the scheme.
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A man works at the Trump Tower on Oct. 24, 2022, in New York City. (Leonardo Munoz/VIEWpress / Getty Images)
Former President Trump himself, while found by the court to have sanctioned illegal activities as the company's chief executive, was not involved in the case and is not facing legal penalty.
The case against the company was built largely around testimony from the Trump Organization's former finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, who previously pleaded guilty to charges that he manipulated the company's books and his own compensation package to illegally reduce his taxes. He testified in exchange for a promised five-month jail sentence.
FORMER TRUMP ORGANIZATION CFO ALLEN WEISSELBERG PLEADS GUILTY TO TAX VIOLATIONS
The entrance of the Trump Tower on Oct. 24, 2022, in New York City. (Leonardo Munoz/VIEWpress / Getty Images)
Weisselberg pleaded guilty last year to dodging taxes on $1.7 million in job perks – including a free Manhattan apartment, luxury cars and his grandchildren’s private school tuition. He was sentenced Tuesday to five months in prison and five years of probation.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan handed the sentence to the longtime Trump executive less than two months after his testimony helped convict the former president’s company of tax fraud.
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Interior hall of Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York, Oct. 22, 2022. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
According to his attorney, Weisselberg has begun his sentence at New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex. He will be eligible for release after little more than three months if he behaves behind bars.
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization told FOX Business that the case was "unprecedented and legally incorrect" and said the Trump Organization would appeal the verdict.
FOX Business' Bradford Betz and Greg Norman contributed to this report.