Sources say the charges involve tax fraud and will be unsealed this afternoon.
July 1, 2021, 1:23 PM
• 3 min read
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleFormer President Donald Trump's long-serving chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, has surrendered to authorities in New York to face criminal charges, court officials told ABC News Thursday morning.
Weisselberg arrived at the Manhattan District Attorney's office with his lawyer hours after a grand jury indicted him and the Trump Organization on charges that are expected to be unsealed this afternoon.
A special grand jury in Manhattan voted Wednesday to indict Trump's firm and its chief financial officer.
FILE PHOTO: Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg looks on as then-U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, U.S., May 31, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri//File Photo
The charges are believed to involve tax fraud related to fringe benefits given to employees, including Weisselberg, sources said. Investigators have been examining whether the company and Weisselberg properly accounted for those forms of compensation.
"Mr. Weisselberg intends to plead not guilty and he will fight these charges in court," Weisselberg's attorneys said in a statement Thursday after Weisselberg surrendered to authorities.
In a separate statement, a spokesperson for the Trump Organization called Weisselberg "a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather who has worked at the Trump Organization for 48 years."
"He is now being used by the Manhattan District Attorney as a pawn in a scorched earth attempt to harm the former President," the statement said. "The District Attorney is bringing a criminal prosecution involving employee benefits that neither the IRS nor any other District Attorney would ever think of bringing. This is not justice; this is politics."
Attorneys for the former president's company were told to expect charges last week by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance's staff, sources said.
Trump has called the charges "completely outrageous" and dismissed the investigation as being a politically-motivated "witch hunt."
