Trump accountant told employee to help commit tax fraud: trial testimony
A former top executive for the Trump Organization testified that the company's longtime chief financial officer directed him to help commit tax fraud.
Jeffrey McConney, the company controller and chief lieutenant to former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, took the stand Friday in a second day of testimony in the fraud trial of Donald Trump and was grilled by prosecutors from Attorney General Letitia James' office, reported NBC News.
"In a dramatic finale, McConney admitted that ex-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg asked for his help in committing tax fraud," reported NBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin. "He said he kept engaging in this illegal conduct because Weisselberg was his boss and if he refused, he would probably have lost his job."
Weisselberg served three months in jail following his conviction on tax fraud charges related to unreported corporate perks he received while working for the Trump Organization.
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McConney had testified Thursday that he helped the former president set property valuations for his real estate holdings and admitted that he sometimes made his own calculation instead of relying on bank appraisals.
Justice Arthur Engoron ruled last week that James had proven Trump and his adult sons had fraudulently inflated property values to obtain loans.