Criminal fraud case against Donald Trump’s organization and CFO allowed to proceed

A New York state judge has ruled that a criminal fraud and tax evasion case against former President Donald Trump’s company and its chief financial officer can move forward.

The judge on Friday rejected the Trump Organization and longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg’s request to dismiss the case.

Jury selection for the trial has been set for October 24.

The Trump Organization and Weisselberg, 74, were charged in July 2021 with conspiring to circumvent income taxes by giving some employees unreported perks as pay. Weisselberg allegedly was the main beneficiary, accepting a ritzy apartment in Manhattan and two Mercedes-Benz cars.

Weisselberg and the company pleaded not guilty and in February asked a judge to dismiss all 15 charges against them. The CFO claimed he was charged because he would not cooperate in a prosecution of Trump. Only one of several tax fraud counts was dropped.

Trump himself is not named as a defendant in the case.

Lawyers for the company and Weisselberg did not immediately comment on the development.

Weisselberg and the company previously accused prosecutors of targeting them ‘based on political animus’ toward Trump.

The judge’s ruling came four days after the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home to look for classified material. On Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed that he signed off on the search warrant, which could possibly be unsealed on Friday.

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