State prosecutors in Manhattan who are investigating former President Donald Trump and his company are deepening their investigation into the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, The New York Times reported late Monday.
Two people familiar with the fresh focus on Allen Weisselberg told the Times that prosecutors working for the Manhattan district attorney, Cy Vance, have been interviewing witnesses who know Weisselberg and have asked at least one witness about the financial executive’s sons Barry and Jack Weisselberg.
The district attorney’s office has not accused Weisselberg or his sons of any wrongdoing, but the heat on Weisselberg, the company’s longest serving chief financial officer, could create pressure to win his cooperation in the investigation if prosecutors find any evidence of wrongdoing that is traced back to him.
Barry Weisselberg has been the property manager of Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park, and Jack works at Ladder Capital, one of Trump’s biggest lenders who sold its Trump Organization loans to investors, according to the Times.
The development of the increased focus on Weisselberg comes after the Manhattan district attorney’s office scored a win when the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s request to block a subpoena for his financial records.
Prosecutors are examining whether Trump and the Trump Organization tried to falsely alter property values to obtain loans and tax benefits. Prosecutors are also looking into the Trump Organization’s statements to insurance companies about the value of various assets.
In addition to potential financial crimes, the investigation has also focused on hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign that might have involved Weisselberg.
Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen said in testimony to Congress two years ago that Weisselberg had been instrumental in hatching a strategy to cover up the Trump Organization’s reimbursements to Cohen for his hush money payment to two women who alleged affairs with then presidential candidate Trump. Federal prosecutors charging Cohen at the time did not accuse Weisselberg of wrongdoing.
