Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg and the Trump Organization itself were indicted on fifteen charges in a twenty-page indictment.  The highlights:

• The fifteen individual charges are:
  • Scheme to defraud in the first degree;
  • Conspiracy in the fourth degree;
  • Grand Larceny in the second degree;
  • Three counts of Criminal Tax Fraud in the third degree;
  • Criminal Tax Fraud in the fourth degree;
  • Four counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the first degree; and
  • Four counts of Falsifying Business Records in the first degree.

• Many of the charges stem from schemes to avoid paying Weisselberg and other (unnamed) Trump Organization executives from getting documented income that should be listed on W-2 forms, enabling them to be taxed.  This includes paying Weisselberg’s rent, utility bills and parking fees, as well expenses such as leases for Mercedes-Benz vehicles for Weisselberg and his wife.
• Tuition for private schools Weisselberg family members attended were paid for with checks from Donald Trump’s personal account and from the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, which was established in 2014.  Those checks were signed by Donald Trump himself.
• There are twelve overt acts (listed on pages 14-16) relating specifically to Weisselberg, occurring from 2005 to 2018, in which he deposited federal tax refunds knowing that his income was significantly higher than what was reported on his tax returns.
• Weisselberg is not the only employee who partook in the scheme:  “The scheme was intended to allow certain employees [my emphasis] to substantially understate their compensation from the Trump Organization, so that they could and did pay federal, state, and local taxes in amounts that were significantly less than the amounts that should have been paid.”  This implies others could be indicted for similar crimes in the future.
• Weisselberg is charged with failing to pay taxes on $1.7 million in income, including:
  • approximately $556,385 in federal taxes;
  • approximately $106,568 in state taxes; and
  • approximately $238,159 in New York City taxes.
• Weisselberg received “approximately $94,902 in federal tax refunds and approximately $38,222 in state tax refunds, to which he was not entitled.”
• The Trump Organization cashed checks, listed in corporate records as “Holiday Entertainment,” but gave the cash directly to Weisselberg as his holiday bonuses.  That cash was not reported as income.
• The Trump Organization paid for home improvements for apartments and houses owned by Weisselberg and one of his children.  This includes paying for furniture and carpeting Weisselberg purchases during redecorating his properties in New York and Florida.
• According to the indictment:  “two other employees received substantial amounts of compensation in the form of lodging in New York City and the payment of automobile leases.”
• Payments were made to Weisselberg and “certain Trump Organization executives” from Trump Org subentities that were made as non-employee compensation.  Basically, what this means is that these subsidiaries paid Weisselberg and others as advisors or consultants, an illegal act for an employee designed to avoid paying payroll taxes.
• Weisselberg used this “non-employee compensation” payments to enrich is personal Keogh retirement plan by $215,000.
• From 2011 through 2018, Weisselberg’s compensation from the Trump Org was $540,000 in annual salary and a $400,000 annual bonus, not including the underreported income that added up to hundreds of thousands of dollars each year over that time.