According to multiple reports, a New York state judge ruled Friday that a criminal case against the Trump Organization and former CFO Allen Weisselberg will go to trial in October.
The former CFO of the Trump Organization is in court.
The case was brought by the Manhattan District Attorney's office and Weisselberg and the Trump Organization argued that it was political.
The trial will start on October 24.
One charge of tax fraud was dismissed by the judge as he applied to the Trump Organization.
Weisselberg and the Trump Organization were indicted in July of 2021 on 15 felony counts including a scheme to defraud and a scheme in which executives avoided paying taxes on nearly $1.8 million in compensation over the course of 16 years.
The Trump Organization and Weisselberg have pleaded not guilty to the charges and claim they were unfairly targeted by the prosecutors.
The Manhattan prosecutors have argued that Weisselberg's claim of immunity would not apply to state charges.
The Trump Organization has yet to respond.
The indictment of the Trump Organization and Weisselberg was part of a larger investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney into the company and its finances. The charges against Weisselberg, who was removed from many of his roles with the Trump Organization following the indictment, were inspired by a November 2020 article reporting the CFO received special perks from the Trump Organization. Weisselberg is accused of faking his New York City residency in order to avoid paying the city's income taxes.
If Weisselberg is found guilty of the most serious charge against him, he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. The ex-CFO could face no prison time if the charges against him are not mandatory.
Though the ex-president is not involved in the Weisselberg case, the ruling comes as Trump has come under increasing legal scrutiny, as the FBI raided his Mar-A-Lago estate on Monday in connection with classified documents he had mishandled from the White House. On Tuesday, Trump sat for a deposition in the New York Attorney General's civil investigation into the Trump Organization and its finances, which is unrelated to the Manhattan District Attorney's investigation. During his testimony, the ex-president pleaded the Fifth Amendment.
The criminal case against the Trump Organization can go forward.
5 observations from the indictment of the Trump organization.
The Trump Organization and a top executive have been charged with a tax fraud scheme.
The finance chief of the Trump Organization is trying to get the fraud charges against him dismissed.
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