Trump Organization found guilty in Manhattan DA's tax fraud case

The Trump Organization on Tuesday was found guilty of criminal tax fraud in a criminal case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office.

The organization faced 15 counts, among them tax fraud, falsifying business records, and conspiracy, and was convicted on all counts, the New York Post reported.

 The DA's office had alleged that the organization's senior executives engaged in a years-long scheme to avoid paying taxes on much of their income, in part, by remunerating their leadership with lavish perks in place of salary.

Former CFO Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August to his involvement in the scheme and testified in the larger case as part of the plea deal. He also received a five-month prison sentence and a $2 million fine.

The Trump Organization's former accountant, Donald Bender of Mazars USA, also testified before the Manhattan Supreme Court in November, acknowledging that the Trump Organization had reported massive losses over a years-long period, but denied knowledge of the executive tax evasion scheme.

Neither former President Donald Trump, nor any of his children, faced charges, though prosecutors have openly scrutinized any notion that the Trumps were unaware of the goings on. 

"This whole narrative that Donald Trump is blissfully ignorant is just not real," Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass told jurors during the proceedings.

Still looming over the Trump Organization is a separate civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has alleged that the company inflated the value of its assets to prop up its net worth. A New York judge in early November appointed an independent monitor to oversee the organization's major asset transfers and financial transactions as that case progresses.