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- Matthew Calamari, a Trump Organization executive, won’t be facing charges, his lawyer said.
- Calamari had been investigated as part of the Manhattan DA’s probe of the company.
- Prosecutors are focusing on alleged criminal schemes to avoid tax at Donald Trump’s company.
Prosecutors don’t plan to bring charges against Matthew Calamari, the Trump Organization executive, as part of their probe into allegations of business malpractice at the company, his lawyer said.
“I have been informed that there is no present intention to bring charges against Mr. Calamari. We believe that is the fair and just decision,” attorney Nicholas Gravante Jr. said in a statement reported by Reuters.
“What the future holds in terms of the District Attorney’s continuing investigation is anyone’s guess. In the meantime, however, we are pleased that the considerations raised on Mr Calamari’s behalf have not fallen on deaf ears.”
The Wall Street Journal in June reported that investigators from the Manhattan district attorney’s office were focusing on Calamari, a former bodyguard to Donald Trump who later became an executive at the Trump Organization.
The company is the umbrella organization for Trump’s various businesses. Prosecutors have been investigating whether executives were involved in tax fraud and other illegal business practices.
According to the Journal, investigators looked into whether Calamari was given valuable company perks including use of an apartment and luxury vehicle as a way of avoiding income tax.
In July, company CFO Allen Weisselberg and the Trump Organization were charged with avoiding tax through company perks including cars, an apartment and school tuition fees. Weisselberg denied the accusations against him.
The investigation is not over, and Weisselberg’s attorney told Insider in September that he believed that new indictments would come in the investigation.
Donald Trump has dismissed the investigation as a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
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