Trump Org.’s longtime CFO testifies at company’s fraud trial

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump Organization’s longtime finance chief has testified at trial that he saved it hundreds of thousands of dollars by scheming to evade taxes on company-paid perks, including a Manhattan apartment and luxury cars. The prosecution’s star witness, Allen Weisselberg, says he deducted such expenses from his salary because it cost the company about half as much as it would have to give him a raise to cover them. Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August to evading taxes on $1.7 million of fringe benefits, an agreement that requires him to testify against the company in exchange for a five-month jail sentence. The Trump Organization has denied wrongdoing. Its lawyers allege that Weisselberg concocted the scheme on his own.