Opening arguments began in the high-profile criminal tax fraud case against the Trump Organization, the former president's family-run company that helped make him a household name.
“This case is about greed and cheating,” prosecutor Susan Hoffinger told jurors in her opening statement about what she alleged was a "clever scheme", NBC News reported Monday.
Two corporations that are a part of the company, Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp., "paid their already highly paid executives even more by cheating on their taxes," Hoffinger said.
Donald Trump is listed as a possible witness in the trial in New York, where prosecutors will argue that the company he ran for decades engaged in a 15-year scheme to compensate top executives “off the books” to help them — and the company — avoid paying taxes.
Trump, who hasn’t been charged with any wrongdoing, has blasted the investigation as a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
Presiding over the case, acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan told potential jurors last week that in addition to the former president, his three oldest children — Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump — could be called as witnesses. All three have held key positions at the company.
The star witness for prosecutors will be Allen Weisselberg, the company’s longtime chief financial officer, who is on paid leave from the Trump Organization. He was indicted alongside the organization last year after years of investigation into the company’s financial practices by the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Weisselberg, 75, pleaded guilty to 15 felony charges in August.
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