Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg looks on as then-US presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, US, on May 31, 2016.
Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has surrendered to authorities ahead of expected charges against him and former President Donald Trump's company, according to multiple news outlets.
Weisselberg was seen walking into the courthouse in lower Manhattan around 6:20am with his lawyer.
New York prosecutors are expected to announce the first criminal indictment on Thursday in a two-year investigation into Trump's business practices, accusing his namesake company and Weisselberg of tax crimes related to fringe benefits for employees.
The charges against the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, remained sealed Wednesday night but were to be unveiled ahead of an afternoon arraignment at a state court in Manhattan, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The people were not authorised to speak about an ongoing investigation and did so on condition of anonymity.
READ MORE: Trump's accountant under pressure to flip in criminal probe
Trump Organization denounces charges
The Trump Organization said that charges against its chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg are about politics and not about justice, according to a statement obtained by ABC News.
The Organization accused prosecutors of using Weisselberg as a "pawn" in an effort to take down the former president, according to the statement.
There was no indication Trump himself would be charged at this stage of the investigation, jointly pursued by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and New York Attorney General Letitia J ames, both Democrats.
The planned charges were said to be linked to benefits the company gave to top executives, like the use of apartments, cars and school tuition, the people familiar with the matter told the AP.
Vance, who leaves office at the end of the year, has been conducting a wide-ranging investigation into a variety of matters involving Trump and the Trump Organization.
His office has looked into hush-money payments paid to women on Trump’s behalf and truthfulness in the company's property valuations and tax assessments, among other matters.
Vance fought a long battle to get Trump’s tax records and has been subpoenaing documents and interviewing company executives and other Trump insiders.
James assigned two lawyers from her office to work with Vance’s team after her office found evidence of possible criminal wrongdoing while conducting a separate civil investigation of Trump.
Weisselberg, 73, had come under scrutiny, in part, because of questions about his son’s use of a Trump apartment at little or no cost.
READ MORE: NY attorney general investigates Trump Organization in criminal capacity
Loyal lieutenant
Barry Weisselberg, who managed a Trump-operated ice rink in Central Park, testified in a 2018 divorce deposition that Trump Parc East apartment was a “corporate apartment, so we didn’t have rent.”
Barry’s ex-wife, Jen Weisselberg, has been cooperating with both inquiries and given investigators reams of tax records and other documents.
The case against Allen Weisselberg — a loyal lieutenant to Trump and his real estate-developer father, Fred — could give prosecutors the means to pressure the executive into cooperating and telling them what he knows about Trump’s business dealings.
READ MORE: Trump’s tax returns reveal a system that rewards all of America’s elite
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