Allen Weisselberg, Donald Trump’s former financial manager, was sentenced to five months in prison for perjury on Wednesday after admitting to lying to authorities investigating the former president for illegally inflating his wealth, according to US media reports.
Weisselberg, 76, was the chief financial officer of former President Donald Trump’s real estate and entertainment company from 2005 to 2021.
The imprisonment of Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty to two charges of deception in connection with his 2020 interrogation during the fraud investigation, comes less than a week before Trump is scheduled to stand trial for concealing hush money payments to conceal a sexual scandal.
Former Trump Organization CFO jailed for 5 months for perjury: US media (Curtis Means/POOL)
In exchange for admitting that he was misled about Trump’s assessment of the mogul’s New York penthouse property, Weisselberg agreed with prosecutors to a five-month prison sentence.
According to the plea form, he might face up to seven years in prison for the offenses alleged.
Prosecutors also decided not to pursue additional allegations against Weisselberg related to his tenure at the Trump Organization.
On February 16, Trump was fined $355 million, plus interest, after being found guilty of unlawfully manipulating the value of his properties to achieve preferential loan and insurance terms.
Trump, a successful property developer and businessman in New York before entering politics, may have to sell or mortgage properties to post collateral to settle the crippling penalty if his ongoing appeal against the verdict fails.