前总统唐纳德·特朗普的一家同名公司预计最早将在下周面临刑事指控两年的调查据曼哈顿地区检察官办公室透露,知情人士告诉美国广播公司新闻。
在周四的一次会议上,检察官告诉代表特朗普组织的律师,他们预计将在几年内对某些员工的附加福利提出指控,从汽车和公寓到学校学费。
特朗普组织的律师罗纳德·菲什切蒂(Ronald Fishchetti)在一份声明中对美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)表示:“在我50多年的执业生涯中,我从未见过地区检察官办公室以员工薪酬或附加福利为由针对一家公司。”“国税局不会也没有提起过这样的诉讼。就连导致2008年金融危机(自大萧条以来最严重的金融危机)的金融机构也没有被起诉。”
气相色谱图像/盖蒂图像,文件
2021年5月18日,前总统唐纳德·特朗普离开纽约特朗普大厦。
曼哈顿地区检察官赛·万斯的发言人拒绝对此事发表评论。纽约司法部长莱蒂西亚·詹姆斯的发言人也拒绝置评,他的办公室是调查的一部分。
万斯的调查在一定程度上集中在这位前总统、他的家人和他的公司的财务上,包括一场关于获得纳税申报单的斗争,这场斗争两次提交给美国最高法院。这项调查源于特朗普的前律师迈克尔·科恩的证词,他告诉国会,特朗普组织在寻求贷款和与税务当局交谈时对其所持股份的估价不同。
消息人士称,除了公司本身,特朗普组织(Trump Organization)首席财务官艾伦·魏斯伯格(Allen Weisselberg)也可能被起诉,如果大陪审团确信他没有适当说明他获得的任何利益。
特朗普否认了所有不当行为,并否认调查是出于政治动机,称之为“美国历史上最大的政治迫害的延续”。
万斯没有寻求连任地方检察官,人们普遍预计他将在此案中做出指控决定放弃他的职位一月份交给继任者。
《纽约时报》首次报道了特朗普组织最早将于下周被起诉的消息。
Trump Organization expects to be charged by Manhattan DA as soon as next week: Sources
Former PresidentDonald Trump'snamesake company is expecting to face criminal charges as soon as next week after a nearlytwo-year investigationby the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
In a meeting Thursday, prosecutors told attorneys representing the Trump Organization that they expected to bring charges related to fringe benefits given to certain employees -- ranging from cars and apartments to school tuition -- over a period of several years.
"In my more than 50 years of practice, never before have I seen the District Attorney's Office target a company over employee compensation or fringe benefits," Ronald Fishchetti, an attorney for the Trump Organization, told ABC News in a statement. "The IRS would not, and has not, brought a case like this. Even the financial institutions responsible for causing the 2008 financial crises, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, were not prosecuted."
A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance declined to comment on the matter. A spokesman for New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office is part of the investigation, also declined to comment.
Vance's probe has focused, in part, on the finances of the former president, his family, and his company, and included a battle over obtaining tax returns that twice landed before the U.S. Supreme Court. The investigation stemmed from the testimony of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who told Congress the Trump Organization valued its holdings differently when seeking loans versus when talking to tax authorities.
In addition to the company itself, Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg could also be charged, the sources said, if a grand jury is convinced he did not properly account for any benefits he received.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has dismissed the investigation as being politically motivated, calling it "a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in American history."
Vance, who is not seeking re-election for another term as DA, is widely expected to make charging decisions in the case before herelinquishes his officeto a successor in January.
News of the Trump Organization expecting charges as soon as next week was first reported by the New York Times.