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Trump Exec. Reveals Salacious Details of Tax Scheme During Criminal Trial

Trump Exec. Reveals Salacious Details of Tax Scheme During Criminal Trial

The Trump Organization criminal tax trial is well underway, and Controller Jeffrey McConney has revealed new details about his orders from higher-ups.

CNN reported that McConney took the stand yesterday, testifying about the specific process that resulted in him tacking on fringe benefits to salaries and bonuses at the direction of high-level company officials.  

McConney, who previously implicated already-sentenced former Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, reiterated that Weisselberg and others directed him to skirt tax laws. 

Per CNN's report, McConney also confirmed that he was instructed to cut bonus checks via 1099 tax forms -- these forms are meant for independent contractors who withhold their own taxes. The executives who received their bonuses in this fashion did not report the money as income on their personal taxes, taking the bonuses tax-free for multiple years. 

In addition, McConney was asked about the Weisselberg apartment on Central Park -- where the family paid shockingly low monthly rent of just $1,000. He confirmed that part of the rent was paid by the Trump Organization as a fringe benefit without reporting it to the IRS or the State of New York. 

Similarly, McConney testified, Chief Operations Officer Matthew Calamari, Sr. was given a bonus as an independent contractor and fringe benefits including luxury car leases for himself and his wife, plus $72,000 in annual rent for a Park Avenue apartment. None of this was reported on taxes. 

The Trump Organization's Mazars tax consultant, Donald Bender, allegedly never informed McConney that it was illegal to underreport taxable income -- however, Bender did apparently explicitly say he "wasn't a fan" of the practice. 

The prosecution is likely to argue, of course, that McConney should have been well aware of the illegality without being told. 

Although former President Donald Trump is not himself named in the ongoing criminal trial, he has been facing an onslaught of his own legal problems following the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. 

The businessman's Mar-a-Lago property in Florida was the subject of a now-infamous Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raid on August 8 and, per Bloomberg, the businessman "invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination on Wednesday [August 10] to avoid answering deposition questions in a civil probe of his family real estate business by New York Attorney General Letitia James."

The raid had some Republicans calling for the release of the FBI's affidavit, pressure to which the investigative agency has not succumbed.

Trump recently came under fire for falsely accusing past Presidents George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama of keeping classified documents, as well. 

All of this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Trump family's legal woes right now. Letitia James and her office have officially filed a $250 million civil suit against Trump, and the former President is also the subject of an ongoing 2020 election fraud probe in Georgia.

What do you think about McConney's testimony in the Trump trial?

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Rebekah Barton

Rebekah Barton

Rebekah's search engine optimization career began completely by accident as a college student. Over the course of her career so far, she has "grown up" with the SEO industry, from writing content while juggling classes to managing her own teams of writers and overseeing SEO strategy in subsequent roles. She is excited to bring her passion for high-quality content to CountingWorks, Inc.

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