Former President Donald Trump's company was sentenced by a New York judge after a jury convicted two subsidiaries last month on 17 counts of tax fraud.
Trump Organization was hit with $1.6 million in fines Friday when a New York judge sentenced it for running a 15-year tax fraud scheme that prosecutors said top executives at the company. Trump Organization were convicted last month on 17 counts, including conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records.
The judge agreed, fining Trump Corp. $810,000 and Trump Payroll $800,000.
"While corporations can’t serve jail time, this consequential conviction and sentencing serves as a reminder to corporations and executives that you cannot defraud tax authorities and get away with it," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
A person charged in the scheme was the company's former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg. Weisselberg, 75, pleaded guilty in August. He was sentenced this week to five months in jail at Rikers Island. He could have faced up to 15 years in prison had he been convicted at trial.
Experts have said the bigger problem for the companythan the fineis the conviction, because it could affect the Trump Organization's ability to get bank loans.
The judge overseeing that case has issued an order blocking the company from transferring assets without court approval and appointed an independent monitor to oversee the company's financial statements.
Trump has repeatedly complained that the actions of the district attorney and the attorney general are part of the "witch hunt" against him.
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