Former Trump Organization CFO pleads guilty to perjury

The former financial director of Donald Trump's organization pleaded guilty to perjury for giving false information linked to the ex-president's civil fraud trial, prosecutors said on Monday.

Allen Weisselberg, 76, was the chief financial officer of former president Trump's real estate and entertainment group from 2005 to 2021.

In return for admitting guilt linked to two counts of perjury committed during a deposition about the valuation of Trump's New York penthouse apartment, Weisselberg will be sentenced to a lesser term of five months imprisonment.

The offenses for which he was charged carried prison terms of up to seven years, according to the plea document.

Prosecutors also agreed not to seek further charges against Weisselberg linked to his time at the Trump Organization.

On February 16, Trump was hit with a $355 million penalty -- significantly more including interest -- after being found liable for fraudulently manipulating the value of his properties to obtain favorable conditions on loans and insurance.

Trump, a prominent property developer and businessman in New York before entering politics, could have to sell or mortgage properties to post collateral to cover the shattering penalty if his ongoing appeal against the ruling fails.

"(Allen) Weisselberg agrees to plead guilty to two counts of perjury in the first degree," said the plea agreement signed by the former Trump lieutenant.

His formal sentencing will be held on April 10, it added.

"It is a crime to lie in depositions and at trial -- plain and simple. Allen Weisselberg took an oath to be truthful, and then committed perjury," a spokesperson for the New York District Attorney said in a statement.

Weisselberg has previously served time in New York's notorious Rikers Island prison for his role in corporate tax fraud for which the Trump company was fined $1.6 million.

He was personally fined $2 million after pleading guilty and agreeing to testify in the trial of Trump's company.

Weisselberg's testimony helped prosecutors gain the conviction of the Trump Organization and sister firm Trump Payroll Corp on 17 similar fraud and tax evasion charges that involved falsifying business records.

Although he testified against the company, Weisselberg did not implicate the former president, who is again running for the White House in 2024, in any crime.

"Allen Weisselberg looks forward to putting this situation behind him," his lawyer Seth Rosenberg said in a statement to AFP.

© Agence France-Presse