Trump Organization chief financial officer Alan Weisselberg has changed his legal team as a longtime employee of former President Donald Trump prepares to go to court on tax evasion charges.
The Manhattan District Attorney accused Weisselberg and the Trump Organization last July after nearly two years of investigating the financial deals of Trump, his company, his family and his associates.
Attorney Nick Gravante, who represented two other Trump Organization officials who evaded charges in the Manhattan prosecutor’s investigation, has now joined Weisselberg’s defense team, Gravante confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday.
“If there was a deal to be reached in this case, there was enough time for that,” Gravante said. “My mission now is to lead this test team and win, and that’s what I intend to do.”
According to the indictment, starting in 2005, Weiselberg claims to have concealed “indirect compensation” by using payments from the Trump Organization to cover nearly $ 360,000 in excellent private school payments for his family and nearly $ 200,000 in leases. of luxury cars.
“It was a 15-year tax fraud scheme,” said Kerry Dunn, chief adviser to the Manhattan prosecutor’s office, when the charges were announced. “It was organized by top executives.”
Weisselberg pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Alan Weisselberg, chief financial officer of the Trump Organization Inc., at the center, walks to a courtroom in the New York Criminal Court on July 1, 2021.
Stephanie Keith / Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE
The allegations are “disgraceful” and “shameful,” Trump told ABC News after the indictment was published, calling Weisselberg a “huge person.”
Gravante represents longtime Trump employee Matt Kalamari, who was investigated by the Manhattan prosecutor until ultimately prosecutors decided not to pursue the charges.
A trial date for Weisselberg has not been set, but it is expected to be sometime this fall.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Weisselberg’s lawyer’s change.
Add Comment