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Trump Organization, CFO plead not guilty to tax crime charges

Posted July 01, 2021 1:00 am

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and TOM HAYS Associated Press

NEW YORK - Lawyers for Donald Trump's company pleaded not guilty to tax crime charges Thursday, along with the Trump Organization's longtime finance chief. It is the first criminal case arising from a two-year investigation into the former president's company.

Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg was arraigned a day after a grand jury returned an indictment charging him and Trump's company with tax crimes. The lawyers for the Trump Organization pleaded not guilty to scheme to defraud and other charges, including conspiracy, grand larceny and tax fraud.

Trump himself was not charged.

The case against Weisselberg and the Trump Organization involves fringe benefits given to employees, like the use of apartments, cars and school tuition.

Weisselberg, 73, has worked for the Trump Organization for decades and has intimate knowledge of its business dealings that could be useful to prosecutors looking to dig deeper into the company.

His lawyers say he will fight the charges, and there's no indication he is willing to cooperate.

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