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特朗普集团吃官司,颇似当年麦道夫案

对美国前总统唐纳德•特朗普及其同僚而言,这些指控的杀伤力要比表面看起来大得多。

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乍看起来,特朗普集团(Trump Organization)及其首席财务官艾伦•魏塞尔贝格最近面临的指控似乎微不足道,但事实并非如此,对美国前总统唐纳德•特朗普及其同僚而言,这些指控的杀伤力要比表面看起来大得多。

在起诉书中,曼哈顿地区检察官小塞勒斯•R•万斯指控魏塞尔贝格与特朗普集团涉嫌欺诈联邦、纽约州和纽约市的税务当局。魏塞尔贝格被控在15年的时间里共计逃税90多万美元,考虑到美国每年逃税的规模可达数十亿美元,这点钱似乎不足为道。

魏塞尔贝格的律师坚称,相关起诉纯粹出于政治动机。“这是地方检察官针对联邦政府政敌的公然攻击”,其律师说道。特朗普集团在一份声明中表示:“美国国税局(IRS)或其它地区的地方检察官根本不会发起此类指控。”起诉书中包括这样一条指控:特朗普集团在为魏塞尔贝格支付车库费用时并未将相关款项列入员工补贴,魏塞尔贝格也未将相关款项作为收入进行上报,对此,特朗普的前顾问贾森•米勒笑称,这就像在指控魏塞尔贝格“可能享受了免费停车待遇”。

经过接近三年的调查,检察官们就调查出了这么点问题?

然而,只要看看这些指控内容与伯纳德-麦道夫投资证券公司(Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities)施行多年的举措是何其相似,就知道其意义有多么深远。

此案的核心指控是,特朗普集团为魏塞尔贝格和其他高管直接支付了某些费用,而并未将相关款项纳入后者的收入,并且无人将相关款项作为员工补贴上报美国国税局。相同做法在麦道夫公司同样司空见惯。例如,此案的起诉书称,特朗普集团多年来一直在为魏塞尔贝格直接支付纽约市公寓的租金,外加电费、电话费、有线电视费、网费和停车费。而在麦道夫案件中,麦道夫公司也为首席财务官丹尼尔•邦文特雷直接支付了纽约市三套公寓的维修费用。

起诉书称,特朗普集团为魏塞尔贝格的两名家人支付了在曼哈顿一所私立学校就读的学费。而在麦道夫案中,麦道夫公司同样为邦文特雷支付了其儿子在曼哈顿一所私立学校就读的学费。起诉书称,特朗普集团应魏塞尔贝格的要求为其支付了许多个人开支,包括其佛罗里达宅邸中的床具、平板电视、地毯和家具的购置费用。而麦道夫公司也为邦文特雷支付了许多个人开支,包括乡村俱乐部会费、曲棍球队新泽西魔鬼队(New Jersey Devils)季票费用等。

那么问题来了,这些人收入极为丰厚,上面提到的开支也不算多。为什么还要费这么大劲让公司支付呢?答案显然不是钱的问题。

“从某种意义上看,本案与麦道夫案中出现的情况可以与黑道的做法相提并论,只不过是发生在白领世界而已。”纽约南区辩护律师、前联邦检察官罗兰•里奥佩尔说。“公司通过这种方式鼓励共谋成员犯罪、利用公司为个人谋利,并最终将公司与个人绑定在一起,确保个人对公司的忠诚。”

里奥佩尔将之称之为“虚假的慷慨”,他表示,“(公司做出)虚假慷慨行为的目的是笼络人心,而接受者每接受一份馈赠,就会在犯罪的泥潭中越陷越深。”

里奥佩尔认为,本次起诉并非无足轻重,而应该被视为“第一步棋”,是“具有战略意义的明智之举”。这不仅因为对魏塞尔贝格的起诉会加大其与检方合作的可能,还将“破坏特朗普集团的合法银行关系,甚至可能极大削弱特朗普为自己辩护的能力。”里奥佩尔指出,令他感到惊讶的是,起诉书中并未涉及《受敲诈勒索和腐败组织法》(Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act)的相关指控。他说:“留这一手可能是为了敲打(特朗普集团)。我认为,未来某个时间点上,特朗普集团将会面临相关指控。对个人而言,此类指控的刑期更长,也更难辩护。”

至于特朗普集团声称“其它检察官不会发起此类诉讼”的主张,里奥佩尔表示,情况“绝非如此”。他指出,本案指控的逃税行为“相当常见,经常有人因此遭到起诉。”他还举出了一个颇为值得注意的案例,1986年,特朗普的前任律师兼长期导师罗伊•科恩便因为“相同行为”而遭到时任联邦检察官鲁道夫•朱利安尼的起诉。科恩受审后被判无罪。魏塞尔贝格与特朗普集团可能也会在这场法律战中获胜。但本案与麦道夫案的相似之处注定会让其感到不安。(财富中文网)

译者:梁宇

审校:夏林

乍看起来,特朗普集团(Trump Organization)及其首席财务官艾伦•魏塞尔贝格最近面临的指控似乎微不足道,但事实并非如此,对美国前总统唐纳德•特朗普及其同僚而言,这些指控的杀伤力要比表面看起来大得多。

在起诉书中,曼哈顿地区检察官小塞勒斯•R•万斯指控魏塞尔贝格与特朗普集团涉嫌欺诈联邦、纽约州和纽约市的税务当局。魏塞尔贝格被控在15年的时间里共计逃税90多万美元,考虑到美国每年逃税的规模可达数十亿美元,这点钱似乎不足为道。

魏塞尔贝格的律师坚称,相关起诉纯粹出于政治动机。“这是地方检察官针对联邦政府政敌的公然攻击”,其律师说道。特朗普集团在一份声明中表示:“美国国税局(IRS)或其它地区的地方检察官根本不会发起此类指控。”起诉书中包括这样一条指控:特朗普集团在为魏塞尔贝格支付车库费用时并未将相关款项列入员工补贴,魏塞尔贝格也未将相关款项作为收入进行上报,对此,特朗普的前顾问贾森•米勒笑称,这就像在指控魏塞尔贝格“可能享受了免费停车待遇”。

经过接近三年的调查,检察官们就调查出了这么点问题?

然而,只要看看这些指控内容与伯纳德-麦道夫投资证券公司(Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities)施行多年的举措是何其相似,就知道其意义有多么深远。

此案的核心指控是,特朗普集团为魏塞尔贝格和其他高管直接支付了某些费用,而并未将相关款项纳入后者的收入,并且无人将相关款项作为员工补贴上报美国国税局。相同做法在麦道夫公司同样司空见惯。例如,此案的起诉书称,特朗普集团多年来一直在为魏塞尔贝格直接支付纽约市公寓的租金,外加电费、电话费、有线电视费、网费和停车费。而在麦道夫案件中,麦道夫公司也为首席财务官丹尼尔•邦文特雷直接支付了纽约市三套公寓的维修费用。

起诉书称,特朗普集团为魏塞尔贝格的两名家人支付了在曼哈顿一所私立学校就读的学费。而在麦道夫案中,麦道夫公司同样为邦文特雷支付了其儿子在曼哈顿一所私立学校就读的学费。起诉书称,特朗普集团应魏塞尔贝格的要求为其支付了许多个人开支,包括其佛罗里达宅邸中的床具、平板电视、地毯和家具的购置费用。而麦道夫公司也为邦文特雷支付了许多个人开支,包括乡村俱乐部会费、曲棍球队新泽西魔鬼队(New Jersey Devils)季票费用等。

那么问题来了,这些人收入极为丰厚,上面提到的开支也不算多。为什么还要费这么大劲让公司支付呢?答案显然不是钱的问题。

“从某种意义上看,本案与麦道夫案中出现的情况可以与黑道的做法相提并论,只不过是发生在白领世界而已。”纽约南区辩护律师、前联邦检察官罗兰•里奥佩尔说。“公司通过这种方式鼓励共谋成员犯罪、利用公司为个人谋利,并最终将公司与个人绑定在一起,确保个人对公司的忠诚。”

里奥佩尔将之称之为“虚假的慷慨”,他表示,“(公司做出)虚假慷慨行为的目的是笼络人心,而接受者每接受一份馈赠,就会在犯罪的泥潭中越陷越深。”

里奥佩尔认为,本次起诉并非无足轻重,而应该被视为“第一步棋”,是“具有战略意义的明智之举”。这不仅因为对魏塞尔贝格的起诉会加大其与检方合作的可能,还将“破坏特朗普集团的合法银行关系,甚至可能极大削弱特朗普为自己辩护的能力。”里奥佩尔指出,令他感到惊讶的是,起诉书中并未涉及《受敲诈勒索和腐败组织法》(Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act)的相关指控。他说:“留这一手可能是为了敲打(特朗普集团)。我认为,未来某个时间点上,特朗普集团将会面临相关指控。对个人而言,此类指控的刑期更长,也更难辩护。”

至于特朗普集团声称“其它检察官不会发起此类诉讼”的主张,里奥佩尔表示,情况“绝非如此”。他指出,本案指控的逃税行为“相当常见,经常有人因此遭到起诉。”他还举出了一个颇为值得注意的案例,1986年,特朗普的前任律师兼长期导师罗伊•科恩便因为“相同行为”而遭到时任联邦检察官鲁道夫•朱利安尼的起诉。科恩受审后被判无罪。魏塞尔贝格与特朗普集团可能也会在这场法律战中获胜。但本案与麦道夫案的相似之处注定会让其感到不安。(财富中文网)

译者:梁宇

审校:夏林

The allegations in the recent indictment of the Trump Organization and CFO Allen Weisselberg seem like penny-ante charges. They’re not. For Trump and his colleagues, they’re more ominous than they appear.

The indictment by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. accuses Weisselberg and the Trump Organization of defrauding federal, New York State, and New York City tax authorities. In a world of multi-billion-dollar scams, the numbers are not mind-boggling. Weisselberg is accused of evading $901,112 of taxes over a 15-year period.

His lawyers insist the indictment is purely politically motivated. “It is now open season for local prosecutors to target federal political opponents,” they said. In a statement, the Trump Organization says this is a case “that neither the IRS nor any other district attorney would ever think of bringing.” Former Trump adviser Jason Miller ridiculed the case for accusing Weisselberg of “maybe taking free parking” since it includes a charge that the Trump Organization paid his garage expenses without reporting the payments as employee compensation, and Weisselberg didn’t report them as pay.

After almost three years of investigation, this is what they’ve got?

But these allegations could mean much more. To see why, consider how strikingly they resemble what went on for years at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities.

The central accusation in the indictment is that the Trump Organization directly paid certain expenses of Weisselberg and other senior executives rather than putting that money in their paychecks, without anyone reporting those payments to the IRS as employee compensation. The same practice was routine at the Madoff firm. For example, the Trump Organization for years directly paid the rent on Weisselberg’s New York City apartment, plus electricity, telephone, cable, Internet, and parking, says the indictment. At the Madoff firm, the company directly paid the maintenance costs of three New York City apartments for CFO Daniel Bonventre.

The Trump Organization paid the tuition for two of Weisselberg’s family members at a private school in Manhattan, says the indictment. The Madoff firm paid the tuition of Bonventre’s sons at a private school in Manhattan. The Trump Organization paid many Weisselberg personal expenses at his request, the indictment alleges: new beds, flat-screen TVs, carpeting and furniture for his Florida home, for example. The Madoff firm paid many of Bonventre’s personal expenses at his discretion: country club dues, season tickets to the New Jersey Devils hockey team, for example.

The obvious question is why? These men were making a lot of money, and those expenses weren’t crushing. Why go through such financial contortions? Answer: It wasn’t about the money.

“What allegedly happened here and happened in the Madoff case is a white-collar equivalent of what goes on in a Mafia gangster case,” says Roland Riopelle, a defense attorney and former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York who represented a Madoff employee, Annette Bongiorno, in that scandal’s aftermath. “Members of the conspiracy are encouraged to commit crimes, using the organization for their own benefit. That ultimately becomes the way in which the organization binds the individual to it and encourages loyalty.”

It’s what Riopelle calls “false generosity as a way of keeping people in place. It’s false generosity because with each gift, the recipient is sinking deeper into criminality.”

Riopelle doesn’t believe the indictment is insignificant. On the contrary, he says, it’s “just the first move on the chessboard” and “a smart strategic move.” That’s not only because it’s a clear attempt to “flip” Weisselberg. It will also “disrupt the legitimate banking relationships of the company, cripple it, and probably have a crippling effect on Mr. Trump’s ability to defend himself.” He says he was surprised that the indictment didn’t include a charge under New York State’s equivalent of the federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) law. “That may have been held back as a threat,” he says. “I expect we’ll see that charge levied against the Trump Organization at some point. It carries a heavier criminal penalty in terms of imprisonment for an individual, and it’ll be much more difficult to defend against.”

As for the Trump Organization’s claim that other prosecutors wouldn’t have brought this case, Riopelle says, “That really is not true.” What’s alleged in the indictment is “a fairly common type of tax evasion. It is often prosecuted.” A notable example, he observes, was Trump’s former lawyer and longtime mentor, Roy Cohn, who in 1986 was “indicted for exactly this conduct” by then-U.S. Attorney Rudolph Giuliani. Cohn went to trial and was acquitted. Weisselberg and the Trump Organization may likewise prevail in this legal battle. But the parallels are not reassuring.

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