Allen Howard Weisselberg, the former Trump Organization CFO, appears for sentencing for tax fraud scheme in New York State Supreme Court in the Manhattan borough of New York City, January 10, 2023.
Curtis Means | Pool | Reuters
The New York judge set to deliver a verdict in the civil business fraud trial of Donald Trump has ordered attorneys in the case to give him details about possible perjury by former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg.
Judge Arthur Engoron, in an email to the attorneys made public Tuesday, said that if Weisselberg had lied in one aspect of his testimony, the judge might disregard anything Weisselberg has said on the witness stand or to investigators.
Engoron flagged a New York Times report last week that said Weisselberg is negotiating a deal with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office that would require him to plead guilty to perjury.
That report, which cited people with knowledge of the matter, said that Weisselberg would have to admit that he lied during his testimony at Trump’s fraud trial in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Weisselberg, 76, would also have to say he lied under oath during an interview with the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, the Times reported.
James’ civil lawsuit, which is the basis for the trial, accuses Trump, his two adult sons, the Trump Organization and top executives, including Weisselberg, of fraudulently inflating Trump’s net worth on years of financial documents to get more favorable loan terms and tax breaks.
Engoron has already ruled that the co-defendants are liable for fraud. The trial was conducted to determine penalties and resolve other claims of wrongdoing in James’ suit.
Weisselberg last year spent three months at New York’s notorious Rikers Island jail after pleading guilty to tax fraud in a criminal case related to his work at the Trump Organization.
After his October testimony in the AG’s civil fraud trial, Forbes magazine accused Weisselberg of lying under oath when…
Read the full article here
