Tom George (00:00):
… Manhattan jury has found former President Donald Trump’s namesake real estate company guilty of criminal tax fraud. The jury found the two entities of the Trump Organization guilty as charged on all counts, including scheming to defraud. Zohreen Shah has more on that verdict.
Zohreen Shah (00:14):
Tonight, two entities of the Trump Organization, the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation, found guilty of criminal tax fraud, convicted on all 17 counts, including tax fraud, falsifying business records, and conspiracy.
Alvin Bragg (00:30):
That is consequential. It underscores that in Manhattan, we have one standard of justice for all.
Zohreen Shah (00:36):
Trump was not charged, in the defense that he did not know, but prosecutors say he signed off on parts of the scheme, initially memos like this one that prosecutors believe were intended to cheat tax officials. Experts say the verdict could make his second bid for the presidency more challenging. Prosecutors saying in closing arguments that the former president was not blissfully ignorant.
(00:58)
Prosecutors said that for 15 years, executives at the Trump Org leaned on the company to evade income taxes on rent, private school tuition, and luxury cars, and unveiled tax returns that showed massive losses, including nearly a billion dollars in operating losses over a two-year period while Trump starred on reality TV and as he was campaigning for president.
(01:23)
A Trump Organization spokesperson reacted to the guilty verdict, saying, “The notion that a company could be held responsible for an employee’s actions to benefit themselves on their own personal tax returns is simply preposterous.”
Alan Futerfas (01:37):
We’ll certainly be appealing, of course.
Zohreen Shah (01:38):
Felony convictions carry fines totaling up to $1.7 million. Zohreen Shah, ABC News Los Angeles.