New grand jury starts hearing evidence in Trump criminal probe

New York prosecutors investigating former US President Donald Trump's business dealings convened a new grand jury to hear evidence in the investigation. The term of the previous panel was set to be over

New York: New York prosecutors investigating former President Donald Trump's business dealings have convened a new grand jury to hear evidence in the probe as the previous panel's term was set to run out, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday. The development comes as the Manhattan district attorney's office is weighing whether to seek more indictments in a case that has already resulted in tax fraud charges against Trump's company, the Trump Organisation, and its long-time CFO Allen Weisselberg.

Trump himself remains under investigation after District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. led a multi-year fight to get access to the Republican's tax records. The person was not authorised to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity. The news of the new grand jury was first reported by The Washington Post.

The Manhattan DA's office declined to comment. A message seeking comment was left with a Trump Organisation lawyer. Investigators working for Vance and New York Attorney General Letitia James have spent more than two years looking at whether the Trump Organisation misled banks or tax officials about the value of the company's assets, inflating them to gain favourable loan terms or minimizing them to reap tax savings.

As part of a continuing civil investigation, James' office issued subpoenas to local governments in November 2019 for records pertaining to Trump's estate north of Manhattan, Seven Springs, and a tax benefit Trump received for placing land into a conservation trust. Vance issued subpoenas about a year ago seeking many of the same records. James' office has also been looking at similar issues relating to a Trump office building in New York City, a hotel in Chicago and a golf course near Los Angeles.

In the criminal case, Weisselberg has pleaded not guilty to charges he collected more than $1.7 million in off-the-books compensation, including apartment rent, car payments and school tuition. Trump's company was also charged in the case, which prosecutors have described as a sweeping and audacious tax fraud scheme. Prosecutors have also been weighing whether to seek charges against the company's chief operating officer Matthew Calamari Sr.

According to the indictment, from 2005 through this year, the Trump Organisation and Weisselberg, 74, cheated tax authorities by conspiring to pay senior executives off the books by way of lucrative fringe benefits and other means. Weisselberg alone was accused of defrauding the federal, state and city governments out of more than $900,000 in unpaid taxes and undeserved tax refunds.

Trump himself was not charged with any wrongdoing, but prosecutors noted he signed some of the checks at the centre of the case. In recent months, a pair of Trump Organization executives testified before the grand jury hearing evidence in the Manhattan case. Under New York law, grand jury witnesses are granted immunity and cannot be charged for conduct they testify about.

One of the Trump executives granted immunity to testify before the grand jury is the company's director of security, Matthew Calamari Jr., the son of Matthew Calamari Sr. The other, senior vice president and controller, Jeffrey McConney, was first subpoenaed to testify in the spring and appeared before the panel again in September. At a September hearing, Weisselberg lawyer Bryan Scarlatos told a judge he had strong reason to believe more indictments were coming in the case.

The grand jury that returned the Weisselberg and Trump Organization indictments was empanelled in the spring for a six-month term. The new grand jury will also meet for six months, overlapping the start of Alvin Bragg's tenure as district attorney. Bragg, a Democrat, won Tuesday's election and will take over in January for Vance, who is retiring.

As a top deputy to New York's attorney general in 2018, Bragg helped oversee a lawsuit that led to the closure of Trump's charitable foundation over allegations that he used the non-profit to further his political and business interests.

AP