Trump's company is convicted in trial for tax fraud scheme.

Reuters Donald Trump's real estate company was convicted on Tuesday for a criminal scheme spanning more than 15 years to defraud tax authorities, in yet another case adding to the legal troubles the former US president faces in his new campaign for the White House in 2024.

The Trump Organization -- which operates hotels, golf courses and other properties worldwide -- will be fined as a result of the conviction. The exact amount will be determined by the judge overseeing the trial in the New York State court at a later date.

The company pleaded not guilty. Trump himself was not charged in the case.

Although the fine is not expected to be significant for a company the size of the Trump Organization, a jury conviction could complicate the company's ability to do business by scaring away creditors and partners.

The case centered on allegations that the company paid personal expenses such as home rent and car rentals for senior executives, including former CFO Allen Weisselberg, without reporting the income, and also made bonus payments to executives as if they were independently hired.

"The benefits package is designed to keep your top executives happy and loyal," prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told jurors during his closing argument on Friday.

The Trump Organization is separately facing a fraud lawsuit filed by New York State Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump himself is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for handling classified government documents after he left office in January 2021 and attempted to overturn the November 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Weisselberg, 75, testified as the government's main witness as part of a plea deal with prosecutors that will allow him to spend no more than five months in prison.

The Trump Organization argued that Weisselberg ran the scheme for personal gain. He is on paid leave from the company and testified that he received over $1 million in salary and bonus payments this year.

"The issue here is not whether, as a byproduct, the company saved any money," said defense attorney Susan Necheles in her closing argument on Thursday. "Weisselberg's intention was to benefit himself, not the company."

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on November 19 that his family "did not obtain any economic gain from the actions taken by the executive branch."

The Republican, who on November 15 announced his third campaign for the US presidency, called the investigation a politically motivated "witch hunt." Both Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his predecessor, Cyrus Vance, are Democrats.

Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty in August to concealing $1,76 million in income from tax authorities, testified that Trump himself signed the Christmas bonus checks and personally paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in private school tuition for the executive's grandchildren. 

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