Court Battles

Jury shown Weisselberg lease signed by Trump himself

Former President Trump signed the lease of an Upper West Side apartment used by former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, prosecutors showed the jury at the company’s criminal tax fraud trial on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported.

The lease represents part of the prosecution’s efforts to show that the Trump Organization and its executives engaged in a years-long scheme to avoid taxes — one that was sanctioned by the highest echelons of the company, according to Bloomberg.

Weisselberg, the prosecution’s central witness, reportedly received a $6,500-a-month apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and $10,000 for moving fees from the Trump Organization. 

The lease shown to jurors on Tuesday noted that the apartment was meant to be leased by Weisselberg or other company employees and was signed by Trump himself, Bloomberg reported.

The Trump Organization has been indicted on accusations of providing company executives with perks to evade taxes. The former president himself is not charged in the case, although the presiding judge said last week that Trump and his three adult children may be called to testify.

However, the trial was brought to a halt later on Tuesday after Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, the prosecution’s first witness, tested positive for COVID-19.