NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – Lawyers for the Trump Organization were on Monday making a final effort to prevent an imminent criminal indictment of the former president’s company, according to US media.
A series of reports in recent days indicate a closed-door investigation into the business practices of the former New York real estate mogul — a case opened more than two years ago by the Manhattan District Attorney and two Democratic members of Congress, and The focus is on alleged financial fraud – bearing fruit.
According to several media outlets, including the Washington Post, lawyers for the Trump Organization, an unlisted family holding company that owns golf clubs, hotels and luxury properties, were presenting their final arguments to prosecutors on Monday to block the charges. .
According to CNN, a face-to-face meeting was scheduled.
Other unnamed sources cited by the New York Times indicated that an indictment over fringe benefits paid to the company’s financial chief Alan Weiselberg was pending, and had not been declared to tax authorities.
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Questioned by AFP, neither prosecutors nor lawyers for the Trump Organization nor Wesselberg himself would confirm the reports.
Trump Organization attorney Ron Fischetti told CNN simply that prosecutors are not yet “receptive” to the arguments against filing charges.
Trump himself appeared to confirm the reports, when he issued a statement calling the investigation politically motivated, saying, “Now they just leaked that we were given a day, today, to make our case about those things.” which are standard practice throughout the American business community, and in no way a crime.”
‘Day, not week’
For Bennett Gershman, a law professor at Pace University and a former Manhattan attorney, an indictment should be a case of “now days, not weeks.”
Can the corporation itself be prosecuted without indicting Trump or any of his family members? Trump handed the reins of the business to his two eldest sons and Weiselberg when he moved to the White House in early 2017.
Many forensic experts consider this impossible, and expect Wesselberg – the man often described as a keeper of company secrets, and who has so far refused to cooperate with the justice system – as well. With the same time as Trump Organization or soon after.
“Charging a corporation is unusual,” Gershman said. “A corporation deals with individuals.”
Former US President Donald Trump waves to supporters after speaking at a rally at the Lorraine County Fairgrounds on June 26, 2021 in Wellington, Ohio. (Tony Dijk/AP)
But no one is willing to bet on whether Trump – who held his first major political rally since leaving office on Saturday, and is concerned about whether he will run again in 2024 – will face the charges himself. .
The 75-year-old, who left his native New York for Florida, has not made any public comment on the reports.
But in late May he described these investigations as a continuation of “the greatest witch hunt in American history”.
Even if he is indicted someday, it would not theoretically prevent him from running for another presidency according to US election laws.
The investigation focuses on eight years of the former president’s tax returns obtained by prosecutors after a lengthy legal battle, and also on the testimony of his personal former attorney, Michael Cohen, who was sentenced to three years in prison and who co-operated with investigators. are cooperating.
Cohen said the company regularly over- or undervalued its assets, which could lead to potential tax evasion or insurance fraud.
One thing is certain though: The investigation will continue beyond the first indictments, leaving the door open for more allegations down the line.
And the prospect of holding justice to Trump never fails to delight his opponents.
“He doesn’t follow the rules, he never followed the rules,” Barbara Reuss, a former Trump Organization vice president, told CNN.
“He deserves to go to jail for a long time,” said Race, who wrote a book about his years at Trump Tower called “Tower of Lies.”
