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William Brennan, attorney for the Trump Organization
Photo: EDUARDO MUNOZ / REUTERS
The real estate company of former US President Donald Trump has been found guilty in a trial in the US state in New York, among other things, for tax fraud.
After about two days of deliberations, a jury found the Trump Organization guilty on all 17 counts, according to Manhattan Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The sentence is to be announced on January 13, 2023.
Trump himself was not charged.
Along with the company, which operates hotels, golf courses and other properties around the world, and another co-defendant Trump company, the company's longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty, was charged.
In his testimony, he admitted that he and other employees had systematically cheated the tax authorities for years.
Benefits such as luxury cars and expensive apartments were not taxed.
The 75-year-old escaped a possible prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Instead, he had to pay a total of almost two million US dollars in taxes and fines due and received five months in prison and five additional years of probation.
The Trump Organization had pleaded not guilty.
Lawyers said Weisselberg acted alone.
Another fraud case against companies
Republican Trump, who announced his third campaign for the presidency in November, has described the probe as a politically motivated "witch hunt."
Both Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his predecessor, Cyrus Vance, who brought the indictment, are Democrats.
The Trump Organization is also the subject of a fraud lawsuit brought by New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
Trump himself is under investigation by the US Department of Justice for his handling of sensitive government documents after he left office in January 2021 and for attempts to overturn the November 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
dam/dpa/Reuters/AP