Today a long-brewing investigation by numerous government agencies resulted in a grand jury indictment against the Trump Organization, Trump Payroll Corporation, and CFO Alan Weisselberg, 73. In total, the indictment included fifteen counts regarding alleged illegal schemes dating as far back as fifteen years.

The defendants are charged with illegal schemes to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud, and falsifying business records.

The alleged crimes were made public today, following on the heels of a three-year investigation led jointly by the Manhattan New York State Attorney's Office led by Letitia James and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office of Cyrus R. Vance Jr.

Investigators charged the Trump Organization and Weisselberg with crimes, including fraud and tax crimes, saying it was all part of a fifteen-year-long illegal plan that gave top executives perks and cash.

The investigators charged Weisselberg with illegally avoiding paying income taxes on $1.7 million. He now faces charges of grand larceny, tax fraud, and more.

Court documents state, "The defendants, in the County of New York and elsewhere, during the period from on or about March 31, 2005, to on or about June 30, 2021, as set forth below, engaged in a scheme constituting a systematic, ongoing course of conduct with intent to defraud more than one person and to obtain property from more than one person by false and fraudulent pretenses representations and promises, and so obtained property with a value in excess of one thousand dollars from one or more such persons, to wits the United States Internal Revenue Service, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, and the New York City Department of Finance."

Weisselberg, who has worked at the Trump Organization for 48 years, turned himself in to the prosecutor's office this morning in Manhattan. Published reports said his attorney told the DA's office his client would not cooperate in the investigation.

However, it is historically commonplace for indicted individuals to cooperate with prosecutors, especially once evidence is shared with the defense. Frequently, indicted individuals who see the evidence against them flip while under the pressure of an indictment that may lead to prison.

The charges focus upon alleged tax crimes and tax evasions, such as fringe benefits, including employee perks regarding cash bonuses, rent-free homes, private school tuition, car leases, and other perks. DA Cyrus R. Vance Jr. has been targeting data and documents culled during the investigation regarding Weisselberg's perks, rent-free apartments, and even a grandchild's tuition allegedly being covered.

Court documents state, "Beginning from at least 2005 to on or about June 30, 2021, the defendants and others devised and operated a scheme to defraud federal, New York State, and New York City tax authorities. The purpose of the scheme was to compensate Weisselberg and other Trump Organization executives in a manner that was "off the books": the beneficiaries of the scheme received substantial portions of their income through indirect and disguised means, with 'compensation that was unreported or misreported by the Trump Corporation or Trump Payroll Corp to the tax authorities."

Prosecutors allege instances over fifteen years where the scheme allowed "certain employees to substantially understate their compensation from the Trump Organization so that they could and did pay federal, state, and local taxes in amounts that were significantly less than the amounts that should have been paid."

Payroll taxes were allegedly mishandled as well, with court documents saying, "the scheme involved the failure of the "Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corp. to withhold income taxes on wages, salaries, bonuses and other forms of compensation paid to certain employees. The scheme also allowed the Trump Organization to evade the payment of payroll taxes that the Trump Organization was required to pay in connection with employee compensation.

In court, general counsel for the Manhattan district attorney Carey Dunne called the charges against the Trump Organization and Weisselberg "a sweeping and audacious illegal payments scheme."

This DA indictment is the first ever to charge the Trump Company with illegal conduct, arriving on the heels of a two years' long combined investigation by state and federal prosecutors.

The indictment does not include charges against former president Donald Trump. However, the charges against his namesake, the Trump Organization, are a sharp jab at the former president. Trump has successfully overcome numerous civil and criminal investigations both before and after his presidency.

Weisselberg has been under investigation since 2020. Prosecutors interviewed his former daughter-in-law Jennifer Weisselberg, who gave them containers of financial records and met with them on numerous occasions.

Photo Source: Former President Donald Trump, left, his chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, center, and his son Donald Trump Jr., right, during a news conference at Trump Tower in New York, file photo, Jan. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Prosecutors accuse Weisselberg of numerous illegal tax activities. Court documents state, "During the period of the scheme, Weisselberg thereby evaded approximately $556,385 in federal taxes, approximately $106,568 in state taxes, and approximately $238,159 in New York City taxes, and he falsely claimed and received approximately $94,902 in federal tax refunds and approximately $38,222 in state tax refunds, to which he was not entitled."

Duncan Levin, Jennifer Weisselberg's attorney, said they are happy with the indictment and that his client provided the investigators with reams of evidence.

"We have been working with prosecutors for many months now as part of this tax and financial investigation and have provided a large volume of evidence that allowed them to bring these charges," said Levin. "We are gratified to hear that the DA's office is moving forward with a criminal case."

Prosecutors today must now turn over their evidence to the defense.

Prosecutors are working in step with Letitia James, the New York State attorney general, as they delve into information about payroll taxes and what may or may not have been taxable income.

Before the hearing, Weisselberg's attorneys, including Mary E. Mulligan and Bryan C. Skarlatos, said he will fight the charges in court.

The Trump Organization also released a statement, saying CFO Weisselberg was a "pawn in a scorched-earth attempt to harm the former president. This is not justice; this is politics."

The indictment, focused upon alleged tax crimes, is but a piece of a much broader investigation into the Trump Organization and officers.

A larger criminal probe is underway, delving into the Trump Organization asset valuations, which may have been undervalued. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office led the broader criminal probe, alongside the investigation by the New York Attorney General's Office.

Allegedly under scrutiny in the ongoing investigation are real estate holdings including former President Trump's estates in Westchester, N.Y., the Trump International Hotel, and the Trump Tower in Chicago.