Trump Org. CFO appeared to defend company car perk while being charged with tax-avoidance scheme, documents say

• Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg complained about his long commute, court documents say.
• He appeared to defend receiving luxury cars from his employer, The Washington Post reported.
• But prosecutors allege the perks were part of a tax-avoidance scheme.

Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, who is accused of accepting luxury cars as part of a tax-avoidance scheme, complained about his long commute while in custody, court papers obtained by The Washington Post show.

According to prosecutors cited in the documents, Weisselberg apparently offered a defense of the arrangement.

He is said to have complained about the long commute from his suburban home to the Trump Organization offices in Manhattan.

"In sum and substance, defendant Allen Weisselberg stated that the commute to work from Long Island was difficult," the documents filed by prosecutors in the New York Supreme Court say, according to The Washington Post.

Weisselberg is said to have made the comment before pleading not guilty to charges of fraud and grand larceny.

The 15-count indictment against Weisselberg and the Trump Organization was filed by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office as part of its wide-ranging investigation into former President Donald Trump's company. Attorneys for the Trump Organization also pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Weisselberg said on the day of his arrest he had been living in his Upper West Side apartment since 2005, The Post reported.

The outlet said it was unclear whether he meant that commuting from Long Island was difficult, or the trip from one part of Manhattan to another was arduous.

For decades, his former daughter-in-law Jennifer Weisselberg said, Allen Weisselberg commuted to his job in Trump Tower from a home in Wantagh, Long Island.

Trump described the home as "embarrassing" in a 2004 visit during a shiva, Jennifer Weisselberg said. Allen Weisselberg sold the home in 2013, according to The Post.

Weisselberg's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prosecutors allege that Weisselberg accepted $1.7 million in company perks, including apartment leases, school tuition for his grandchild, and the leasing of two Mercedes-Benz cars, as part of a tax-avoidance scheme.

The executive, who has been employed by the Trump Organization for decades, has so far resisted pressure from prosecutors to flip and provide evidence to help them build their case.

Some legal analysts have said they believe that the case against Weisselberg is a warning to other executives whom prosecutors hope will cooperate.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing. He has said that the investigation is politically motivated and that the perks were not illegal.

Prosecutors are also investigating whether Matthew Calamari, another Trump Organization executive, accepted tax-free perks, according to CNN.

He also has a home on Long Island and another in a Trump Organization-owned apartment building in Manhattan, property records reviewed by Insider show.