Donald Trump: Trump Organization fined $1.6m after being found guilty of tax fraud and falsifying records

Donald Trump’s company the Trump Organisation has been handed a $1.6million (£1.3m) fine after a New York judge found the business guilty of tax crimes. The company was found guilty of fraud and falsifying business records.

The former US president was not a part of the trial, nor were any members of his family. The only person charged in the case was the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer (CFO) Allen Weisselberg.

However, it comes as Trump faces legal troubles of his own. A separate fraud lawsuit against the businessman and his children was filed by New York state’s attorney general Letitia James, while two subsidiaries of the Trump Organziation were also found guilty of awarding its executives untaxed benefits.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing in his business, and is planning to appeal the guilty verdict against the Trump Corp and Trump Payroll Corp subsidiaries. He has also countersued Ms James for “intimitdation”.

Manhattan’s District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr has said that the ruling against Trump’s real estate business in a step forward and a “significant chapter” in the legal investigations into the former president and his businesses. He added that the organisation and its former CFO had “benefitted from sweeping fraud for well over a decade”.

In a statement, the Trump organization has refuted the ruling. The statement read: “These politically motivated prosecutors will stop at nothing to get President Trump and continue the never ending witch-hunt which began the day he announced his presidency.”