The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which has been conducting the investigation alongside the New York attorney general, also accused a top executive, Allen H. Weisselberg, 73, of avoiding taxes on $1.7 million in perks that should have been reported as income. Mr. Weisselberg, Mr. Trump’s long-serving and trusted chief financial officer, faced grand larceny, tax fraud and other charges.

According to state prosecutors, both the Trump Organization and Mr. Weisselberg were deeply involved in an ‘off-the-record’ clearing operation financing luxury car leases and apartment rentals, among other personal expenses, from 2005 to 2021.

Ina brief interview with The New York Times after the indictment was unsealed, former President Donald Trump called the accusations a ‘political witch hunt that radical left Democrats started off as I came down the escalator,’ referring to the 2015 event at Trump Tower when he announced his presidential campaign.

The Wall Street Journal newspaper argues this judicial process is a blow to former president, who means to rule the United States once again and has already avoided multiple criminal and civil probes during and after his term.

For over two years, Manhattan Prosecutor Cyrus Vance deeply investigated into Trump family business´ operations in search of possible fraud involving banks, insurance companies and tax entities, the USA Today newspaper reported.

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