“The Manhattan district attorney’s office appears to have entered the final stages of a criminal tax investigation into Donald J. Trump’s long-serving chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, setting up the possibility he could face charges this summer, according to people with knowledge of the matter. In recent weeks, a grand jury has been hearing evidence about Mr. Weisselberg, who is facing intense scrutiny from prosecutors as they seek his cooperation with a broader investigation into Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization, the people with knowledge of the matter said. The prosecutors have obtained Mr. Weisselberg’s personal tax returns, the people said, providing the fullest picture yet of his finances” the New York Times reports.

“Even as the investigation has heated up, it remains unclear whether the prosecutors will seek an indictment of Weisselberg, which would mark the first criminal charges stemming from the long-running financial fraud investigation into Trump and his family company. The investigation into Weisselberg focuses partly on whether he failed to pay taxes on valuable benefits that Trump provided him and his family over the years, including apartments and leased cars as well as tens of thousands of dollars in private school tuition for at least one of his grandchildren. In general, those types of benefits are taxable, although there are some exceptions, and the rules can be murky. For months, prosecutors working for District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., a Democrat, have sought to pressure Weisselberg into cooperating with their investigation into Trump, and any deal could turn the trusted executive into a star witness against the former president. For now, Weisselberg appears to have rebuffed Vance’s office and continues to work at the Trump Organization.”