Lawyers for the Trump Organization were making a last-ditch effort on Monday to ward off what appeared to be an impending criminal indictment of the ex-president’s company, according to US media.
A series of reports in recent days seem to indicate that closed-door investigations into the business practices of the former New York real estate mogul – a case opened more than two years ago by the Manhattan district attorney and two Democratic members of Congress, and focusing on alleged financial fraud — are about to bear fruit.
According several media outlets, including the Washington Post, lawyers for the Trump Organization, an unlisted family holding company that owns golf clubs, hotels and luxury properties, were presenting their final arguments to prosecutors Monday to forestall charges.
A face-to-face meeting was scheduled, according to CNN.
Other anonymous sources quoted by the New York Times hinted that an indictment was under consideration over fringe benefits paid to the company’s financial chief Allen Weisselberg, and not declared to tax authorities.
Questioned by AFP, neither prosecutors nor lawyers for the Trump Organization, nor Weisselberg himself would confirm the reports.
Ron Fischetti, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, simply told CNN that prosecutors have so far not been “receptive” to arguments against filing a charge.
Trump himself appeared to confirm the reports when he issued a statement condemning the investigation as politically motivated and saying “now they just leaked that we were given one day, today, to make our case about things that are standard practice throughout the US business community, and in no way a crime.”
