The New York attorney general’s office has reportedly been criminally investigating Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, for months over tax issues.
CNN first reported the ongoing investigation on Wednesday evening. The New York Times confirmed it, with similar reporting, citing sources who said that the office of New York attorney general Letitia James had sent a letter to the Trump Organization in January notifying it that her office had opened a criminal investigation related to Weisselberg.
The reported investigation involving Weisselberg by James’s office adds additional pressure onto the trusted financial officer, who has worked for former President Donald Trump’s family business for decades.
Manhattan district attorney Cy Vance’s office has reportedly been seeking to secure his cooperation for months in its own criminal inquiry into Trump and his company related to potential bank and tax fraud.
Both investigations have touched on benefits Trump’s company provided to some of its executives, including potential tuition payments to a flashy Manhattan private school for at least one of Weisselberg’s grandchildren.
Prosecutors at the district attorney’s office, according to the Times, have been looking into whether the family paid taxes on these benefits, which also reportedly included luxury lodgings for Weisselberg’s son, Barry.
Weisselberg has not been accused of wrongdoing.
The news of the attorney general’s criminal investigation related to Allen Weisselberg comes after news broke of collaboration between James’s office and the district attorney.
The attorney general’s office reportedly informed the Trump Organization that information it collected from its civil investigation into Trump and his company could be used in a “criminal capacity” in the DA’s sweeping investigation. Two assistant attorneys general from James’s office also reportedly joined the district attorney’s team.
