NEW YORK (Reuters) – Jurors in the Trump Organization’s tax fraud trial are set to start deliberating on Monday, following four weeks of testimony and arguments about executive pay practices at Donald Trump’s real estate company that prosecutors say amounted to a years-long criminal scheme.
The former U.S. president’s company was charged in 2021 with paying personal expenses for some executives without reporting the income, and compensating them as if they were independent contractors. Its longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded guilty and testified for the prosecution.
Trump, who last month announced a third run for the presidency in 2024, was not charged in the case. But prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said in his closing argument on Friday that Trump was aware of the scheme, part of an effort to counter the defense’s argument that Weisselberg, 75, sought only to benefit himself and hid his wrongdoing from the Trump family.
“He is not on trial here, but that does not mean that you should believe the defense’s narrative that Allen Weisselberg…went rogue,” Steinglass told the jury.
Trump, a Republican, has called the charges politically motivated. Alvin Bragg, the current Manhattan district attorney, is a Democrat, as is the DA who brought the charges last year, Cyrus Vance.
The Trump Organization has pleaded not guilty. The company faces up to $1.6 million in fines if convicted.
Its lawyers have argued that an outside accountant from Mazars USA who prepared…
