Donald Trump's company and its former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, have been indicted by New York authorities following an investigation into the former president's businesses,
two people with knowledge of the matter
have confirmed to our sister network
NBC News
.
The charges against the Trump Organization and Weisselberg that a grand jury handed out in New York have yet to be revealed, but are expected to involve alleged tax violations related to
benefits awarded to senior company executives, including the use of apartments, cars and money. for tuition
, according to the sources cited.
[The New York Prosecutor's Office expands investigations into Trump for alleged tax fraud]
The individuals were not authorized to speak about an ongoing investigation and did so on condition of anonymity.
The
Wall Street Journal
first reported that charges were expected Thursday.
Weisselberg and the company's first court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.
Then-President-elect Donald Trump and his CFO Allen Weisselberg, in a Jan. 11, 2017, file photo.
Our sister network NBC News reported last week that District Attorney Cyrus Vance, a Democrat who will step down at the end of this year, would press charges against the Trump Organization as early as this week.
The charges come amid an investigation Vance has been conducting into various allegations of financial wrongdoing against the former president's company.
Vance's office had been investigating alleged criminal conduct at the Trump Organization, court documents showed, including
falsification of business records, insurance fraud and tax fraud
.
[The New York Prosecutor's Office investigates whether the Trump Organization overstated its assets and asks one of its sons to testify]
NBC News reported in March that Weisselberg's ex-ex-wife Jennifer Weisselberg had been speaking with investigators and that Vance was on the trail that there were employees at the organization, including the Weisselbergs, who were receiving additional benefits such as apartments in exchange for Evade taxes.
Donald Trump would have paid federal taxes only five times in 15 years, according to The New York Times
Sept.
28, 202007: 18
The investigation appeared to be accelerated when Vance gained access to Trump's personal and corporate tax returns and all underlying tax documents in February after a lengthy court battle.
Last week, a lawyer for the Trumps, Ron Fischetti, called the impending charges
"completely outrageous"
and said they were being charged because Weisselberg did not cooperate with investigators.
"They were unable to get him to cooperate because he refused to say that Donald Trump had knowledge or information that he might not have been properly deducting the use of cars or an apartment," Fischetti added.
With information from NBC News and The Associated Press
.
