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'It’s slap on wrist': Internet fumes as Allen Weisselberg to serve 100 days in jail after tax fraud verdict

A criminal trial has accused Trump Organization of carrying out a 15-year-long criminal scheme that included paying expenses like free rent and car leases for top executives without reporting the income

MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: A criminal trial in Manhattan found Trump Organization guilty of fraud on all counts, accusing it of carrying out a 15-year-long criminal scheme to defraud tax authorities. The scheme included paying expenses like free rent and car leases for top executives without reporting the income. One of the executives involved was former Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, who could end up serving only 10 days in prison, and it has left social media enraged.

Former president Donald Trump's company is now facing a series of tax fraud charges. The potential penalty would amount to $1.6 million. The firm was accused of running a scheme that also included paying top executives bonuses as if they were independent contractors, according to prosecutors.

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When Weisselberg testified for the prosecution, he refused to implicate Trump personally. He got a lighter sentence after agreeing to testify against the company. One-third of the sentence could be knocked off with credit given for good behavior, making him serve just about 100 days in prison. 

Back in August, Nicholas Gravante Jr, the lead attorney for Weisselberg, said in a statement, according to CNN, "In one of the most difficult decisions of his life, Mr. Weisselberg decided to enter a plea of guilty today to put an end to this case and the years-long legal and personal nightmares it has caused for him and his family. “Rather than risk the possibility of 15 years in prison, he has agreed to serve 100 days. We are glad to have this behind him.”

The verdict came after indictments of Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corporation last year. Weisselberg pleaded guilty to accepting free rent and use of a car, as well as private school tuition for family members. He reportedly pleaded guilty to 15 felonies. Trump faces no criminal liability in the case.

Trump's lawyers claimed Weisselberg "betrayed" the company. Weisselberg first worked for Trump's father Fred when he ran the company, and the lawyers have now claimed he set up the schemes for his own benefit. 

Weisselberg's 100-day prison sentence is being discussed on social media again in the wake of the verdict, with many blasting it as a 'slap on the wrist'. "Trump companies pay only $1.6 million in penalties and Andy Weisselberg gets only 100 days in prison? Our justice system is a joke! It's more lucrative to be a criminal than a law abiding citizen," one user said. Another wrote, "It’s a slap on the wrist". "*Up* to $1.6 million, so it could be less. Unless the company is shut down, the $1.6M will come from the office coffee fund. Is the maximum time for Weisselberg only 100 days? Almost not worth going after the company if this is what they get. Alvin Bragg must do more than this," said one user.

"100 days? Is this a joke? He can do one hundred days standing on his head. Has he cooperated? What am I missing?" one user wrote, while another said, "If Weisselburg only gets 100 days…he must have cooperated to implicate somebody else. There aren’t too many people higher up them himself…" One user commented, "Yet others get five years for stealing a bag of chips". 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.