By Joseph Tanfani and Jason Szep
(Reuters) – When lawyers asked Donald Trump more than a decade ago to identify who estimated the values in some of his exclusive properties, he shrugged and pointed to his longtime accountant, Allen Weisselberg.
“I think, ultimately, probably, Mr. Weisselberg,” he said, testifying in 2007 in a libel case he filed against a journalist, a case that depended on Trump having inflated the value of his business empire. “I was never really involved, except to give my opinion.”
A judge dismissed the lawsuit, but Trump’s comments illustrate the challenges Weisselberg now faces, 73, when he is investigated in the investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, to see if the former U.S. President and his Trump Organization committed financial crimes.
Few people were as deeply involved in Trump’s finances as Weisselberg, a trusted figure in the Trump family business who started working for Trump’s father, Fred, in 1973 at the company’s Brooklyn office, paying bills and tracking payments from rental of apartment towers.
Legal experts and a source familiar with the criminal investigation say prosecutors’ apparent aim is to convince Weisselberg to cooperate in investigating Trump’s negotiations.
“They want him to change,” said the person familiar with the investigation.
A spokesman for Vance declined to comment. Weisselberg and Trump’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.
The Manhattan district attorney said in an August document that the office is investigating “possibly extensive and prolonged criminal conduct” at the Trump Organization, although he has not fully revealed the scope of the investigation. In a September filing, he said “gigantic” allegations of misconduct could justify a grand jury investigation into possible tax fraud, insurance fraud and falsification of business records.
Vance’s office and a separate civil investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James are examining whether Trump misrepresented the value of his assets to obtain tax benefits, among other possible violations.
Weisselberg’s unique position in the Trump Organization places him among a small number of people who could provide prosecutors with crucial evidence of their intention to commit fraud. Legal experts say Trump may try to distance himself from any controversial assessments of his properties and businesses, citing Weisselberg’s role as financial guardian, as he did in the 2007 defamation case.
“It may very well be that Weisselberg is Trump’s defense in a criminal case,” said Michael Bachner, a defense attorney who has previously worked as a prosecutor with Vance in the Manhattan office.
If Trump argues that he merely relied on the advice of his accountants and lawyers, Weisselberg may be in the position of having to take responsibility for any potentially fraudulent negotiations, Bachner said – unless the accountant makes a deal with prosecutors and implies Trump.
“If I’m Trump, I must be nervous about it,” he said.
The source familiar with the investigation said that in addition to examining Weisselberg, prosecutors also asked questions about their children, who also had ties to Trump: Jack Weisselberg, director of Ladder Capital – a real estate investment company that is a creditor of four properties from Trump – and Barry Weisselberg, who ran skating rinks under Trump contracts with New York City.
Ladder Capital did not respond to requests for comment. Other Ladder executives, but not Jack Weisselberg, appear in loan documents involving Trump.
Jack and Barry Weisselberg did not respond to requests for comment.
UNIQUE POSITION OF TRUST
On March 1, after the United States Supreme Court denied Trump’s last effort to keep his tax records private, Vance’s office obtained millions of pages of records on Trump’s taxes and finances. His office also added an experienced organized crime and corruption prosecutor, Mark Pomerantz, to Trump’s investigative team and interviewed employees at Ladder Capital.
As chief financial officer and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, Weisselberg has developed a unique position of trust with Trump, according to interviews with four former Trump Organization employees. The accountant took care of Trump’s personal finances as well as the company’s most confidential financial information, officials said.
Barbara Res, a former Trump construction manager, said Weisselberg was part of the Trump family’s inner circle, but maintained a modest profile. “He was the only one of the executives who referred to Donald as Mr. Trump,” she said. “He was that kind of guy.”
Res said Trump trusted Weisselberg as a pair of eyes to ensure that Trump’s other accountants and lawyers were doing their job. “Allen would not leave the company,” she said. “Allen didn’t speak; Allen can be trusted to keep things quiet. “
When former Trump attorney and broker Michael Cohen provided a secret payment for porn actress Stormy Daniels, Weisselberg was involved in cutting checks, Cohen testified at a February 2019 hearing held by a committee of the House of Representatives of the United States. USA. Weisselberg obtained limited immunity from federal prosecutors to provide information in the investigation that targeted Cohen; he was not charged with transgression. Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion and campaign funding violations.
Vance may seek a court order granting him access to Weisselberg’s testimony in the federal case against Cohen, legal experts said.
During the 2019 committee hearing, Cohen identified Weisselberg as one of Trump’s executives who knew that Trump was inflating assets in statements to insurers with the aim of reducing premiums. In response to questions from Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cohen said he could not confirm a New York Times report on whether Trump underestimated the values of inherited properties to reduce his taxes.
“Who would know the answers to those questions?” she asked.
“Allen Weisselberg,” said Cohen.
(Reporting by Jason Szep and Joseph Tanfani; edited by Brian Thevenot)