News - World: A longtime senior executive at former US President Donald Trump's family business has been sentenced to five months in prison on charges of fraud and tax evasion, according to a report.

Allen Weisselberg, a longtime friend of Trump, who has served as the CFO of the Trump Organization for about 40 years, was sentenced on Tuesday.

Weisselberg, 75, pleaded guilty in August to 15 counts of tax fraud in a deal in which he agreed to testify at the criminal trial of his former employer's company, AFP reported.

New York district attorney Alvin Bragg called it a 13-year scheme to defraud federal, state and city authorities.

Weisselberg's testimony helped prosecutors gain the December 6 conviction of the Trump Organization and sister firm Trump Payroll Corp on 17 similar fraud and tax evasion charges.

The Trump Organization was found guilty on all nine counts, marking the first time it had ever been convicted of crimes.

Jurors agreed with prosecutors that the organization -- currently run by Trump's two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump -- ran a years-long scheme to defraud and evade taxes by falsifying business records, and hid compensation it paid to top executives between 2005 and 2021.

Weisselberg had already pleaded guilty to 15 counts of tax fraud, and admitted that he schemed with the company to receive undeclared benefits such as an apartment in a posh Manhattan neighborhood.

Although he testified against the company, Weisselberg did not implicate the former president, who is again seeking the White House in 2024, in any crime.

After the verdict against his family business in December, Trump declared on his social media platform that the Trump Organization bore no responsibility for "Weisselberg committing tax fraud on his personal tax returns."

Trump has condemned the fraud and conspiracy charges filed against the Trump Organization. He called the New York case a "witch hunt."

Source: Press TV