New York prosecutors have evidence that Allen Weisselberg's son also avoided taxes by living rent-free in Trump's apartment, report says
- Prosecutors have evidence that Barry Weisselberg avoided taxes like his father, The Daily Beast reported.
- Weisselberg's father, Allen, the Trump Organization's CFO, was charged with tax crimes in July.
- Prosecutors could use the threat of an indictment against his son to make Allen flip on Trump.
New York prosecutors investigating Donald Trump's sprawling business empire have evidence that Barry Weisselberg, a Trump Organization employee, avoided taxes by living rent-free in a luxury apartment Trump owned, The Daily Beast reported on Sunday.
Weisselberg, the manager of Trump's Wollman ice rink in Central Park, is the son of Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's chief financial officer, who in July was charged alongside the company with tax-related crimes including scheme to defraud and grand larceny.
Now prosecutors have evidence - delivered by Barry Weisselberg's ex-wife, Jennifer - that he avoided paying taxes using similar methods, The Daily Beast reported.
The report said Jennifer Weisselberg, a cooperating witness, handed over a decade's worth of tax returns and financial documents showing that her ex-husband did not report all his income and that he received corporate perks that should have been declared as taxable income.
Jennifer Weisselberg previously told Insider's Jacob Shamsian that the Trump Organization controlled employees by giving them houses and tuition instead of raises.
The news of prosecutors' evidence against Barry Weisselberg is significant because it raises the prospect that Allen Weisselberg could be pressured into flipping against Trump with the threat of an indictment against his son.
Three people familiar with the investigation told The Daily Beast that it was unclear whether prosecutors were planning to use that tactic against Allen Weisselberg, who has reportedly refused to flip.
The charges against the elder Weisselberg stemmed from a wide-ranging investigation by the Manhattan district attorney's office and the New York attorney general's office into whether Trump and executives at his company committed financial crimes.
The indictment against Allen Weisselberg also gave some insight into what sort of corporate perks Barry Weisselberg might have benefited from.
The indictment described the younger Weisselberg's residence in a Trump-owned apartment in Central Park in 2018 as a "scheme to defraud federal, state, and local tax authorities."
"In 2018, Weisselberg's family member was allowed to occupy a different Trump-owned apartment on East 61st Street in Manhattan, with no reported rent at all," the indictment said.
"The value of lodging provided to [Allen] Weisselberg's family member constituted income to that family member, and the defendants were required to report that income and to pay withholding taxes on it to the federal, state, and local tax authorities. The defendants intentionally failed to do so."
It did not name Barry Weisselberg, but he is the only person who fits the description as a male Weisselberg family member who worked for the Trump Organization, The Daily Beast reported.
Other corporate perks that prosecutors may be looking at include discounts on garage fees and tuition fees; hundreds of thousands of dollars in school fees for Barry Weisselberg's children were paid using checks that Trump apparently signed himself, the report said.
The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.