Tuesday, December 10, 2024

The former Trump Organization. CFO pleads guilty to perjury charge

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Former CFO Alan Weiselberg leaves the courtroom for a lunch break during a hearing at the New York Supreme Court on November 17, 2022 in New York City.



CNN

Former Trump Organization CFO Alan Weiselberg He was indicted on Monday on five counts of perjury related to testimony he gave during a civil fraud trial against former President Donald Trump regarding the size of a Trump Tower triplex apartment and his dealings with an insurer.

Under a deal with prosecutors, Weiselberg, a longtime confidant of Trump, agreed to plead guilty to two counts related to his 2020 testimony to the attorney general's office.

He has pleaded not guilty to counts related to testimony he gave while on supervised release during a civil fraud trial last year, but he will admit the testimony was false.

Under the terms of the deal with prosecutors, Weiselberg will serve five months in prison — the same as his previous plea deal. He served about 100 days in the earlier case.

Earlier Monday, Weiselberg declined to comment to CNN. Weiselberg's attorney, Seth Rosenberg, declined to comment, as did a spokesman for District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Weiselberg The demand was in negotiation His testimony was taken during the New York attorney general's civil investigation into the former president in 2020, with Manhattan lawyers, and when he testified last year, according to people familiar with the investigation.

As part of the plea talks, Weiselberg is not expected to turn on Trump and will not testify against him in a New York criminal hush money trial scheduled to begin later this month, the people said.

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Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal payments and reimbursements before the 2016 presidential election. Weiselberg was central to the financial transactions, but neither prosecutors nor Trump's attorneys have said they plan to call him as a witness. Trump pleaded guilty to the charge.

This is the second one Confession of guilt By Weiselberg, who pleaded guilty to 15 counts of tax fraud in 2022 and testified at two Trump Ark hearings. Companies. Weiselberg was credited with giving truthful testimony and the companies were found guilty and fined. Judge Sentenced Weiselberg spent five months in prison and oversaw his release. He served for about 100 days Rikers Island Jail.

The latest allegations are a personal blow to Weiselberg, who is in his late 70s with medical problems. Last month, a New York state judge overseeing the attorney general's civil case found Weiselberg liable for fraud and ordered the Trump Organization to pay him half of the $2 million cut, plus $1 million plus interest.

In the hush money case, Weiselberg helped arrange repayment to Michael Cohen, the former president's former lawyer, who advanced $130,000 to Stormy Daniels to prevent her from going public about her affair with Trump. Trump has denied the matter.

The charge initially came under scrutiny from federal prosecutors who granted Weiselberg limited immunity for his testimony before a federal grand jury. Prosecutors filed charges against Cohen.

“Because the Trump Organization is a private entity, if I had kept quiet and stayed on the news that Donald wanted, none of this would have been exposed,” Cohen told CNN. Cohen was investigated by federal prosecutors and pleaded guilty to several charges in 2018. He is not cooperating with the federal investigation. However, he has cooperated with the Manhattan district attorney's investigation and is expected to testify against Trump at a hearing later this month.

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This story and headline have been updated with additional information.

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