Ex-Trump Organization CFO pleads guilty to perjury

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Allen Weisselberg, former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Trump Organization, has pleaded guilty to perjury charges.

The two charges stem from his testimony in a civil fraud trial against former President Donald Trump.

Weisselberg, 76, made the plea in a deal with Manhattan prosecutors on Monday.

He is expected to return to New York’s notorious Rikers Island prison to serve a five-month sentence.

Weisselberg admitted to lying in sworn testimony in May and October, when he claimed he was not involved in an incorrect valuation of Mr Trump’s Manhattan penthouse.

The Trump Tower penthouse was valued at $327m (£258m) in 2015 financial statements, based on an estimate that it was 30,000 square feet – nearly three times its size.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has called the false evaluation “absurd” and said it was an attempt to mislead lenders about the true value of Mr Trump’s assets.

The former Trump Organization executive’s false testimony was first reported on by Forbes, which uncovered emails between Weisselberg and the publication’s journalists in which he tried to convince them that the penthouse was worth more than its actual value.

A spokesperson for Manhattan’s District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, said that Weisselberg “took an oath to be truthful, and then committed perjury both at depositions during the New York State Attorney General’s Investigation and Proceeding, as well as at their recent trial.”

“It is a crime to lie in depositions and at trial – plain and simple,” the spokesperson said.

It is Weisselberg’s second guilty plea in several years on charges related to his time as CFO of the Trump Organization.

Mr Trump’s long-time loyal deputy also pleaded guilty in 2022 to concealing more than $1.7m in off-the-books income during his time at the organisation.

For that, he served a three-month prison sentence.

Weisselberg is expected to be formally sentenced for his latest guilty plea on 10 April.

After Monday’s plea, lawyers for Weisselberg, who has worked for Mr Trump for 50 years, said the former CFO “looks forward to putting this situation behind him”.

Last month, Mr Trump and other members of the Trump Organization were ordered to pay a $454m penalty after they were found liable by a Manhattan civil court for manipulating Mr Trump’s net worth in the case brought forward by Ms James, a Democrat.

Mr Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, has appealed the penalty. He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and called the case a political witch hunt.

The former president is scheduled to return to court later this month for a criminal case in which he was accused of falsifying business records after a hush-money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels.

He is also facing other indictments related to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results and his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office.

Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.