'Tax-evasion fever': Trump kids' roles in seven family businesses drawing investigator's scrutiny

According to a report from the Daily Beast's Roger Sollenberger, the indictments filed against Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg and the company itself also presented a roadmap investigators may be following as they scrutinize the roles of Ivanka Trump, Don Jr. and Eric Trump.

In particular, seven subsidiary companies are mentioned in the legal filings and it appears all three Trump kids have links to one or more of the companies that may also be involved in tax evasion schemes.

According to the report, "... it's impossible to know what charges are still to come, legal experts say the indictment for Weisselberg last week suggests bigger targets are in line, potentially including the former president's adult children."

In an interview with the Beast, former assistant U.S. attorney Melissa Jampol explained that the companies were listed as a warning shot, stating, "Based on my experience, everything's in there for a reason."

Sollenberger wrote, "Prosecutors say the seven companies, along with unnamed Trump entities, exhibited a pattern of paying 'a substantial portion' of year-end bonuses to Weisselberg and 'other executives' as if they weren't employees, but independent contractors. Prosecutors also claim the companies and executives knew the practice was wrong, and the amounts appear to be substantial. For instance, Weisselberg allegedly broke the law by putting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonus money in a tax-free pension plan," before adding, "That could spell major trouble for Trump's children, as well as Trump himself, who has already adopted a legal strategy of ignorance of the tax laws."

According to accountant David Sands, "In general, if you work for a company, you get a W2 form for your taxes. Some companies try to skirt that by having a related company say, 'Oh that's not my employee, so give them a 1099 instead.'"

Noting that ducking paying taxes on income provided to the Trump kids "could bring them down," the report goes on to add some particulars that appear to be the subject of further investigations.

"In the indictment for the Trump Organization that came out last week, prosecutors single out seven companies: Wollman Rink Operations LLC, Trump International Golf Club LLC, Mar-a-Lago, Trump Productions LLC, VH Property Corp. (the parent company of Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles), Trump Las Vegas Development LLC, and Trump CPS LLC," the report states. "While the indictment only names Weisselberg, the 'other executives' mentioned in the indictment could include Trump's children, who held top roles in these organizations—specifically his eldest daughter, former senior White House adviser Ivanka Trump."

Case in point, the report notes Ivanka's attachment to Trump Las Vegas Development LLC, where she was once listed as a vice president.

"According to federal disclosures, that company was established to collect development fees on Trump Ruffin Tower, a combination hotel-condo building in Las Vegas," Sollenberger wrote. "But those disclosures also show the company's underlying value isn't clear, and its income has swung wildly. The business posted no income at all in 2014 and 2015, then hauled $8.1 million in 2016 before reporting no income again in 2017, the year Ivanka left the company. It pulled in a little over $3 million annually for the next two years, then went dormant."

That, Jampol explained, is a red flag for investigators.

"There has to be a real business purpose to the company," Jampol explained. "So what are these entities doing? Are they actually engaging in business, or are they just there to pay compensation some years? You really have to be performing consulting services to qualify as a consultant."

Added Ed McCaffrey, a tax law expert and Robert C. Packard Trustee Chair in Law at the University of Southern California, "Trump businesses don't turn profits. And if a business doesn't show a profit, they may not care about losing those deductions. So instead they're paying these bonuses to employees in a way that they don't have to pay taxes on it."

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