Trump Organization was conducting illegal tax scheme until he took office in 2017: Weisselberg

The Trump Organization's Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg is in court again Thursday to answer questions about the illegal tax scheme to funnel unreported perks to staff while working for the company.

Testifying in court, Weisselberg revealed that not only is he still employed and being paid by the Trump Org, but the scheme also went on until Donald Trump was sworn into the presidency and prying eyes started looking at the company, CNN reported.

“Mr. Trump became president and everybody was looking at our company from every different angle you could think of including himself personally,” Weisselberg told the court. “We felt at the time, let’s go through all the practices that we’ve been utilizing over the years and make sure we correct everything we have to correct.”

Weisselberg also testified that the company handing out executives’ bonuses using the 1099 independent contractor forms began in the 1980s before his time began in 1986. He had no idea how it began.

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The Mazars accounting firm turned over Trump's tax information after years of litigation to obtain it. Once it was explored, it became clear that the perks being given to staff was happening under the table.

Mazars executive Donald Bender told Weisselberg that the bonus checks were only meant for independent contractors or self-employed individuals and not W2 employees.

“He didn’t love the idea,” Weisselberg confessed.

The practice still didn't end. To make matters worse, Weisselberg testified, “Donald Trump always wanted to sign the bonus checks."

The comment came after Weisselberg said that he alone was responsible for the accounting tricks.

Two entities in the Trump Org. umbrella are charged with nine counts of tax fraud, grand larceny and falsifying business records under a 15-years scheme to defraud the IRS by failing to report the bonuses and perks.

Read the full report at CNN.com.