Trump Organization Found Guilty in US Tax Fraud Trial

By Staff, Agencies

Donald Trump’s real estate company has been convicted of carrying out a 15-year-long criminal scheme to defraud tax authorities, adding to the legal woes facing the former United States president as he campaigns for the office again in 2024.

The company had pleaded not guilty, and Trump himself was not charged in the case.

The judge set a sentencing date of January 13.

While the fine is not expected to be material for a company of the Trump Organization’s size, the conviction by a jury could complicate its ability to do business by spooking lenders and partners.

The Trump Organization separately faces a fraud lawsuit brought by New York state Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump is being investigated by the US Department of Justice over his handling of sensitive government documents after he left office in January 2021.

Separately, a congressional panel is probing Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on November 19 that his family got “no economic gain from the acts done by the executive.”

Republican Trump, who on November 15 announced his third campaign for the presidency, has called the probe a politically motivated “witch hunt”. Both Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his predecessor who brought the charges, Cyrus Vance, are Democrats.