Donald Trump (photo by shutterstock, unsplash)
Former US President Donald Trump’s business empire was ordered by a New York court on Friday to pay the maximum fine of $1.6 million for a tax fraud scheme that stretched back at least 10 years.
Although the fine itself is relatively small compared to the huge business, the symbolism of a criminal conviction for the former US president is significant.
Two entities from his extensive real estate group were convicted last month of 17 charges, such as tax fraud and falsifying business records.
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According to the law in New York, the highest fine of the companies was about 1.6 million dollars – a small amount for the long-standing business empire of Trump and his family. Trump himself did not stand trial and denied any knowledge of illegal tax evasion by his executives.
The fine will not affect the company’s operations or its future, but the conviction itself is a black mark on the former president’s reputation as a businessman as he begins his campaign to return to the White House.
Apart from the company, only one executive was charged in the case: the former CFO of the Trump Organization, Alan Weiselberg, who pleaded guilty last summer to tax evasion in the amount of $1.7 million. He was sentenced last Tuesday to five months in prison.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg released a statement saying: “Today, former President Trump’s companies were sentenced to the maximum fines allowed by law following historic convictions for a total of 17 felony crimes.”
Bragg added: “CFO Alan Weiselberg, the Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corp ran and benefited from fraud in which large sums of money were raked in for more than a decade.”
Trump’s sentencing does not end Trump’s fight with Bragg, who said the sentencing “closes this important chapter in our ongoing investigation into the former president and his dealings. We will now move on to the next chapter.”
At the same time, New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Trump and the Trump Organization, alleging they misled banks and others about the value of their many properties, including golf courses and skyscrapers. In her lawsuit, she seeks to fine them at least 250 million dollars.
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