NEW YORK — A state court in New York has ordered two companies owned by former President Donald Trump to pay $1.61 million in fines and penalties.
The amount, the maximum allowed under state sentencing guidelines, is due within 14 days of Friday’s sentencing.
The sentence comes after a Manhattan jury found Donald Trump’s family enterprise guilty of all charges last month in a long-running tax-fraud scheme.
Trump himself was not charged, though his name was mentioned frequently at trial, and his signature appeared on some of the documents at the heart of the case.
Trump’s lawyers have said they expect to file an appeal.
Earlier this week, the long-time chief financial officer to Trump’s various business entities, Allen Weisselberg, was sentenced to five months behind bars for his role in the criminal scheme.
Trump’s family business is known as the Trump Organization, but in fact consists of hundreds of business entities, including the Trump Corporation and the Trump Payroll Corporation.
Weisselberg, 75, worked side-by-side with Trump for decades, and was described by Trump’s attorneys as being like a member of the family.
Last summer, he agreed to plead guilty and serve as the star witness.
At the heart of the case were a variety of maneuvers that allowed Weisselberg and other top executives to avoid paying taxes on their income from the Trump businesses.
The Trump businesses also benefited.
For example, the Trump Corporation gave yearly bonuses to some staffers (signed and distributed by Trump) as if they were independent contractors.
Weisselberg acknowledged on the stand that the move enabled the Trump business to avoid Medicare and payroll taxes.
Weisselberg also improperly took part in a tax-advantaged retirement plan that is only supposed to be open to true freelancers.
While the size of the fine is too small to significantly harm the overall Trump business, there are other implications.
Being designated a convicted felon could make it harder for the Trump Organization to obtain loans or work with insurers.
And the legal peril for the Trump business does not end here.
A sprawling civil suit from New York Attorney General Letitia James is scheduled to go to trial in the fall.
District Attorney Bragg has also said his office is continuing to investigate both Trump and his business.
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