Allen Weisselberg’s alleged off the books benefits

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr’s sweeping indictment of Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg reveals the perks that the executive is accused of failing to report to tax authorities.

The 15-count indictment unveiled on Thursday charged Weisselberg, who has worked for Donald Trump for 48 years, with tax fraud, falsifying business records, and grand larceny.

Most of the charges stem from an alleged $1.76 million in ‘off the books’ benefits which the indictment claims Weisselberg received since 2005, including rent for a Manhattan apartment, lease payments for two Mercedes-Benz vehicles and private school tuition for family members, with Trump signing some tuition checks himself, the suit says. 

Prosecutors said it was a scheme that allowed Weisselberg to evade some $900,000 in taxes and recoup roughly $130,000 in undeserved tax refunds.

Weisselberg, who was paraded into court handcuffed by Vance’s investigators, has pleaded not guilty, and Trump issued a statement calling the charges a ‘political Witch Hunt by the Radical Left Democrats’.

The indictment also charged the Trump Organization with conspiring with Weisselberg in the alleged scheme, but did not name other individuals accused of wrongdoing.

Vance’s investigation, which had now gone on for more than three years, is ongoing, and in recent months he has teamed up with New York Attorney General Letitia James. Both are Democrats.

The various schemes alleged in the indictment include:

• $1,174,018 in untaxed income used to pay Weisselberg’s rent 
• $359,058 in unreported compensation for private school fees
• $196,245 in untaxed income for Mercedes Benz leases 
• $29,400 in under-the-table cash used to pay holiday tips 

Vance accuses Trump Org of paying Weisselberg’s rent under the table 

Prosecutors say that from 2011 through 2018, Weisselberg’s compensation was fixed at $940,000, to be comprised of $540,000 in base salary and $400,000 in end-of-year bonus. 

But the indictment alleges that the Trump Organization regularly compensated Weisselberg with side perks, and then reduced the amount of his official pay by the same amount, allowing him to skirt income taxes. 

‘During the period of the scheme, Weisselberg thereby evaded approximately $556,385 in federal taxes, approximately $106,568 in state taxes, and approximately $238,159 in New York City taxes, and he falsely claimed and received approximately $94,902 in federal tax refunds and approximately $38,222 in state tax refunds, to which he was not entitled,’ the indictment says.

According to the indictment, the Trump Organization has been paying the rent for Weisselberg’s luxury Manhattan apartment since 2005.

‘Beginning on or about March 31, 2005, the Trump Corporation maintained a lease for an apartment on Riverside Boulevard in New York, New York,’ the indictment says. 

‘The building, one of several buildings on the West Side of Manhattan previously known as ‘Trump Place,’ was not owned by the Trump Organization, and the Trump Organization paid rent pursuant to the lease,’ it adds.

Prosecutors say that Weisselberg and his spouse were the sole residents of the apartment and used it as their permanent residence.

Though the indictment does not specify the amount of the apartment’s rent, three-bedroom apartments in the complex are currently listing for $11,500 a month. 

Prosecutors say that Weisselberg used checks drawing on Trump Organization accounts to pay the monthly rent, as well as his electricity, telephone, internet, cable, and parking garage fees.

The indictment says that from the tax year 2005 through 2017, the Trump Organization provided Weisselberg approximately $1,174,018 in untaxed income by paying his rent and related expenses.

Subsequently, as in the other alleged schemes, Weisselberg’s compensation was reduced by an equivalent amount to the rental fees, allowing him to avoid taxes on that portion of unreported income, according to the indictment.

Weisselberg ‘skipped out on NYC taxes by falsely reporting his residence’

New York City is one of the few cities in the country that assesses its own personal income tax on residents.

The city income tax is up to 3.876 percent for the highest bracket, on top of state and federal taxes.

The city tax is applied to those who spend at least 184 days each year in the city, leading some billionaires to carefully tabulate and record their movements to avoid getting hit with an assessment.

According to prosecutors, Weisselberg evaded the tax by simply misreporting his residency and claiming he lived in upstate Wantagh, where he owned a home.

The indictment says that the scheme lasted from 2005, when Weisselberg moved into the Trump Place apartment, until he sold the Wantaugh home and began reporting his New York City residency. 

Prosecutors allege Weisselberg evaded the payment of approximately $210,923 in New York City resident income taxes between 2005 and 2013.  

Prosecutors say Trump signed checks for private school fees

According to the indictment, one of Weisselberg’s family members began attending a Manhattan private school in 2012, and another in 2014.

Though the indictment does not specify the school or Weisselberg’s relationship to the family members, the Wall Street Journal previously reported that Vance had subpoenaed records from the posh Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, which Weisselberg’s two grandchildren attend.

The top-rated private school on the Upper West Side currently charges an annual tuition of $47,540. 

‘From 2012 through 2017, and as part of the scheme to defraud, Trump Corporation personnel, including Weisselberg, arranged for tuition expenses for Weisselberg’s family members to be paid by personal checks drawn on the account of and signed by Donald J. ‘Trump, and later drawn on the account of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust dated April 7, 2014,’ the indictement says.

Prosecutors say that the payment of tuition expenses for Weisselberg’s family members constituted employee compensation and taxable income, and was treated as part of Weisselberg’s annual compensation in internal records maintained by the Trump Corporation. 

However, the tuition fees were not included in Weisselberg’s tax statements as income, allowing him to evade taxes on the amount, the indictment says.

Prosecutors allege the payment of school fees allowed Weisselberg to avoid taxes on approximately $359,058 in unreported compensation from 2012 through 2017. 

Other alleged perks: Mercedes Benz leases, holiday tip cash and furnishings for Florida vacation home

Prosecutors alleged that Weisselberg received a number of other perks under the table.

Among them were annual leases on two Mercedes Benz vehicles for Weisselberg and his wife from 2005 through 2017, according to the indictment.

The lease payments totaled some $196,245, which Weisselberg was avoided reporting as taxable income, prosecutors say.

As well, Weisselberg allegedly converted company funds to cash to use to pay off holiday gratuities each year.

For New Yorkers, holiday tips can easily run into the hundreds or thousands each year, with residents expected to show their appreciation for the building’s doormen, maintenance workers and porters.

Prosecutors say that Weisselberg would draw a check on company funds made payable to a Trump Organization employee who cashed the checks and received cash, turning it over to Weisselberg. 

Weisselberg would then splash out the cash in holiday tips, totaling $29,400 from 2011 to 2017, without reporting it as income, the indictment says. 

As well, prosecutors say that the Trump Organization would pay out for Weisselberg’s ad hoc personal expenses, including new beds, flat-screen televisions, the installation of carpeting, and furniture for his home in Florida.

The indictment also accuses Weisselberg of mis-reporting certain income as self-employment income, although he was not self-employed.

Weisselberg used this self-employed income to establish a tax-advantageous Keogh retirement plan, funding it with $215,000 between 2021 and 2016, according to the indictment.

In a statement, the Trump Organization said prosecutors were using Weisselberg as ‘a pawn in a scorched earth attempt to harm the former president.’ 

The indictment could increase pressure on Weisselberg to cooperate with prosecutors, which he has resisted so far. 

After pleading not guilty at arraignment, Weisselberg was freed without bail.