Allen H. Weisselberg, a guy who helped run Donald Trump’s financial’s in the Trump Organization has a agreed to a plea deal with the Manhattan DA’s office….
Word is he won’t sing about Trump….
But WILL sing about 15 felonies HE committed working FOR Donald Trump’s businesses…
The business will go on trial soon….
One could say there is now a GIANT hole in their defenese
Hmmmm?
It IS Donald Trump’s business, Right?
The Manhattan DA’s office had been on Trump’s case for years….
But current DA Alvin Bragg has put a direct case against Trump on hold…..
Allen H. Weisselberg, for decades one of Donald J. Trump’s most trusted executives, has reached a deal to plead guilty on Thursday and admit to participating in a long-running tax scheme at the former president’s family business — a serious blow to the company that could heighten its risk in an upcoming trial on related charges.
Mr. Weisselberg will have to admit to all 15 felonies that prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office accused him of, according to people with knowledge of the matter. And if he is called as a witness at the company’s trial in October, he will have to testify about his role in the scheme to avoid paying taxes on lavish corporate perks, the people said.
But Mr. Weisselberg will not implicate Mr. Trump or his family if he takes the stand in that trial, the people said, and he has refused to cooperate with prosecutors in their broader investigation into Mr. Trump, who has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Even so, his potential testimony will put the Trump Organization at a disadvantage and is likely to make Mr. Weisselberg a central witness at the October trial, where the company will face many of the same charges.
On cross-examination, the Trump Organization’s lawyers could accuse Mr. Weisselberg of pleading guilty only to spare himself a harsher sentence; under the terms of the plea deal, Mr. Weisselberg, who was facing up to 15 years in prison, will spend as little as 100 days behind bars. They might also argue that it would be unfair to hold the Trump Organization accountable for a crime that was not committed by the Trump family, who control the company.
But Mr. Weisselberg’s testimony — an acknowledgment from one of the Trump Organization’s top executives that he committed the crimes listed in the indictment — would undercut any effort by the company’s lawyers to contend that no crime was committed….
Frequently Asked Questions – Corporate Criminal Liability
1. Q. Can a corporation be held criminally liable in the same way as an individual can be held liable?
A. Yes. A corporation can be prosecuted for essentially all of the same crimes as individuals and, if proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, convicted of felonies and misdemeanors.
2. Q. What conduct is sufficient to create corporate criminal liability?
A. Any act undertaken by an agent of the corporation, within the scope of the agent’s authority and for the benefit of the corporation, is sufficient to bind the corporation. The corporation need not actually benefit and the conduct may be in direct contravention of corporate policy. A single agent of the company need not perform the acts or possess the mental state necessary for the company to face criminal liability. Under the collective knowledge doctrine, the states of mind of multiple corporate agents may be aggregated to find a sufficient criminal mental state.
The standard is broad and harsh. The decision whether to prosecute a company often comes down to an exercise of prosecutorial discretion.
3. Q. What type of punishment is imposed on corporations?
A. A convicted corporation may be subject to stiff fines. It may also face the imposition of a court-appointed monitor to oversee certain aspects of its affairs as well as other limitations on its conduct through a term of probation. Restitution is a necessary component of any sentence. A convicted corporation may also face debarment from service as a government contractor and may suffer other negative collateral consequences if it operates in a regulated industry.
4. Q. Can a company and its employees be prosecuted for the same conduct?
A. Yes. A corporation, as an artificial entity, can only operate through the acts of its agents. Those agents may be prosecuted along with the company if their conduct and state of mind individually are sufficient to create criminal liability.