Longtime Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg acted on his own — not on behalf of the former president’s company — when he raked in off-the-books benefits and evaded taxes, a lawyer for the organization told jurors Thursday.
Attorney Susan Necheles placed blame squarely on Weisselberg for prosecutors’ allegations of tax fraud at the Trump Organization in her closing argument as the trial on related charges drew to a close in Manhattan Supreme Court.
“We are here today because of one reason and one reason only: the greed of Allen Weisselberg,” Necheles told jurors. “The purpose of Mr. Weisselberg’s crimes was to benefit Mr. Weisselberg.”
She went on: “The prosecution’s case rests on one thing: trying to convince you, the jurors, that Mr. Weisselberg’s actions were done on behalf of the company.”
“They were not. They were done solely to benefit himself. And that is the critical issue in this case,” Necheles said.
An attorney for the Trump Payroll Corporation, a subsidiary charged alongside the Trump Org., echoed Necheles in his own closing statement.
“Weisselberg did it for Weisselberg,” attorney Michael van der Veen said of the former CFO.
He added Weisselberg didn’t incriminate the corporation – even though he’s a 75-year-old man who is “going to Rikers Island.”
“The prosecutors had him by the balls, he had to tell the truth while he was on the stand,” van der Veen said.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office allege the Trump Organization ran a 15-year scheme to avoid paying taxes on perks it afforded top executives at the company.
The company could face a penalty of more than $1 million if the Manhattan jury convicts it.
Weisselberg testified at the trial after pleading guilty to a host of charges for his conduct at the company, including grand larceny, tax fraud and falsifying business records.
The longtime Trump Org exec raked in off-the-books perks such as a luxury apartment, expensive cars and his grandchildren’s school tuition that were paid for by the company.
As part of his plea deal, he agreed to testify at the trial and will spend five months in prison and receive five years of probation.
Prosecutors began their closing arguments Thursday afternoon, slamming the defense’s notion that the companies are somehow clean of wrongdoing.
“The Trump Organization cultivated a culture of fraud and deception, lavishing illicit perks to its most senior executives, falsifying documents,” Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said.
“Allen Weisselberg didn’t steal from the company. He stole with the company,” he went on.
“You cannot betray a company by helping the company find ways to pay you less,” Steinglass added. “That’s not betrayal, that’s conspiracy — that’s fraud.”
Prosecutors will continue closings Friday. The jury is scheduled to begin deliberating on Monday.
Prosecutors are scheduled to begin their closing argument Thursday afternoon and will likely tell jurors Weisselberg’s tax evasion was tethered to the Trump Organization because he was a “high managerial agent” of the company.
In her opening statement, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger said the company benefited from these off-the-books perks because it didn’t have to provide Weisselberg and two other employees with bonuses and higher salaries.
“This case is about greed and cheating, cheating on taxes,” Hoffinger told jurors at the start of the trial.
“The scheme was conducted, directed and authorized at the highest levels of the accounting department at the company.”
With Post wires
