NEW YORK (AP) — The harshest punishment Donald Trump’s company could face if convicted Friday by a New York judge for helping its executives evade taxes is a $1.6 million fine — not even enough to buy a condo in Trump Tower.
Neither the former president nor his children, who helped run and promote the Trump Organization, are expected to be in court for the sentencing hearing. The company will be represented by its lawyers.
Because the Trump Organization is a company, not an individual, a fine is the only way a judge can punish the company following its conviction last month for 17 tax crimes, including charges of conspiracy and falsifying business records.
Under the law, the maximum sentence that can be imposed by Judge Juan Manuel Merchan is about $1.6 million, an amount equivalent to double the taxes a small group of executives avoid on benefits, including rent-free apartments in Trump buildings , luxury cars and private school lessons .
Trump himself was not on trial and denied any knowledge of his executives illegally evading taxes.
While a fine of that amount is unlikely to affect the company’s operations or future, the conviction marks a black mark on the Republican’s reputation as a shrewd businessman as he mounts a campaign to regain the White House.
In addition to the company, only one executive was charged in the case: former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty last summer to evading taxes on $1.7 million in compensation.
He was sentenced to five months in prison on Tuesday.
Trump has said the case against his company was part of a politically motivated “witch hunt” against him by vengeful Democrats. The company’s lawyers have vowed to appeal the ruling.
The criminal case concerned financial practices and wage settlements that the company shut down when Trump was elected president in 2016.
Over the course of his years as the company’s main lender, Weisselberg had obtained a rent-free apartment in a Trump-branded building in Manhattan overlooking the Hudson River. He and his wife drove Mercedes-Benz cars leased by the company. When his grandchildren went to an exclusive private school, Trump paid their tuition.
A handful of other executives received similar benefits.
When called to testify against the Trump Organization at trial, Weisselberg testified that he paid no taxes on that compensation, and that he and a company vice president conspired to hide the benefits the company falsified W- 2 forms to be issued.
Weisselberg also tried to take responsibility on the witness stand, saying no one in the Trump family knew what he was doing. He choked when he told the jurors, “It was my own personal greed that led to this.”
Trump Organization lawyers repeated the mantra, “Weisselberg did it for Weisselberg,” claiming he had gone rogue and betrayed the company’s trust.
Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass attempted to refute that claim in his closing argument, showing jurors a lease that Trump himself had signed for Weisselberg’s apartment.
“Mr. Trump explicitly approves of tax fraud,” Steinglass argued.
A jury convicted the company of tax fraud on December 6.
The company’s fine will hardly make a dent in the bottom line for a company with a global portfolio of golf courses, hotels and development deals. It may get into more trouble out of court because of the reputational damage, such as difficulty finding new deals and business partners.
The Trump Organization’s conviction and sentencing do not end Trump’s battle with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat who took office in January. Bragg has said a related investigation into Trump that began under his predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., is “active and ongoing,” with a newly hired district attorney leading the charge.
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 its many assets, a practice she called the “art of stealing.”
James, a Democrat, is asking a court to ban Trump and his three oldest children from running a New York-based business and is seeking to fine them at least $250 million. A judge has set a trial date for October. As an interim measure, he has appointed a supervisor for the company while the case is pending.
Trump faces several other legal challenges as he strives to retake the White House in 2024.
A special grand jury in Atlanta has investigated whether Trump and his allies committed crimes as they attempted to reverse his 2020 Georgia election loss.
Last month, the House Jan. 6 committee voted to make a criminal referral to the Justice Department for Trump’s role in fomenting the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The FBI is also investigating Trump’s storage of classified documents.
___
Follow Michael Sisak on Twitter at twitter.com/mikesisak and send confidential tips by going to https://www.ap.org/tips/
