美国国家公共电台 NPR 特朗普集团及其首席财务官被控税务欺诈（在线收听）

Former President Trump's business and his longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg are accused of tax fraud.

前总统唐纳德·特朗普的企业及其他长期首席财务官艾伦·韦塞尔伯格被控税务欺诈。

Prosecutors in New York City unsealed a 15-count indictment yesterday.

纽约市检察官昨天公布了一份含15项罪名的起诉书。

They say The Trump Organization engaged in a 15-year scheme to avoid paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes.

他们表示，特朗普集团参与了一项长达15年的计划，以避免缴纳数十万美元的税款。

Reporter Andrea Bernstein has been covering this story for NPR and was in the courtroom yesterday. Good morning, Andrea.

记者安德里亚·伯恩斯坦一直在为NPR报道相关消息，她昨天旁听了庭审。早上好，安德里亚。

Good morning, Noel.

早上好，诺埃尔。

Donald Trump himself was not charged in this indictment. But this is his family's company. What was his alleged involvement?

唐纳德·特朗普本人没有被起诉。但遭起诉的是其家族企业。他涉嫌参与其中指什么？

So you see traces of Donald Trump all through the indictment.

起诉书中到处都有唐纳德·特朗普的身影。

He personally signed a check, according to the indictment, to his chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg's grandchildren's school's tuition.

起诉书显示，他亲自签署了一张支票，用于支付首席财务官艾伦·韦塞尔伯格孙辈所在学校的学费。

He signed a lease for an apartment that Weisselberg allegedly used to avoid paying taxes.

他签了一份公寓的租约，据称韦塞尔伯格用该公寓来避税。

But more than that, what is laid out is this protracted criminal scheme that was purportedly carried out by senior executives in The Trump Organization.

但更重要的是，这一旷日持久的犯罪计划据称是由特朗普集团的高管所实施。

This is the company that bears his name. Donald Trump was so connected to the company that he refused to divest himself when he was president.

特朗普集团是以他的名字命名的公司。唐纳德·特朗普与这家公司的关系如此密切，以至于他在任职总统时拒绝放弃公司。

So what we see is this scheme was allegedly carried out to cheat the very government that he was in charge of while president.

因此我们看到，据称这项计划是为了欺骗他在担任总统期间掌管的政府。

I want to be clear. Trump has always denied wrongdoing. He has not been charged.

我要说明一下。特朗普一直否认有不当行为。他没有被起诉。

And both his company and chief financial officer have pleaded not guilty.

他的公司和首席财务官都不认罪。

What else did you learn at the arraignment about the allegations?

有关这些指控，你在法庭传讯中还了解到了哪些信息？

So the scheme was allegedly broad in scope.

据说这个计划的范围很广。

There were Mercedes-Benz leases that were allegedly paid by the company that were for Weisselberg's personal use, the tuition I mentioned, holiday entertainment —

据称该公司支付了韦塞尔伯格个人使用的梅赛德斯-奔驰的租车费，还有我刚才提到的学费以及假日娱乐——

which were checks for cash allegedly paid back to Weisselberg that he would get bonuses from other Trump companies, like Mar-a-Lago,

据称公司以现金支票的方式报销了韦塞尔伯格的上述花费，但称这是他从海湖庄园等其他特朗普企业获得的福利，

that he called himself an independent consultant when he wasn't.

他称自已为独立顾问，但实际上他并未担任该职务。

And also, there were these very careful records allegedly kept which showed this scheme, which showed how he had a total compensation.

而且，据称有文件详细记录了这项计划，显示了他得到全额赔偿的方式。

And each of these things that were alleged tax dodges were set against that to offset the compensation.

这些涉嫌逃税的行为都被用来抵消赔偿金。

All right. So ultimately, what implications could these charges have for Allen Weisselberg and for Trump's business?

好。这些指控最终会对艾伦·韦塞尔伯格和特朗普的生意产生什么影响？

Well, on the one hand, Weisselberg, who has been an employee of the company for almost 50 years, entered court yesterday in handcuffs.

一方面，韦塞尔伯格在该公司工作了将近50年，昨天他带着手铐进入法庭。

It was a very dramatic moment. But he left. He did not have to pay any bail. He could go back to work.

那是一个非常戏剧性的时刻。但之后他离开了法庭。他不必付任何保释金。他可以重返工作岗位。

He could be there today up in Trump Tower, which is a far cry from the sort of shoddy criminal courthouse in New York.

他今天可能会现身特朗普大厦，该地与纽约寒酸的刑事法庭简直是天壤之别。

But things get complicated when a company and its chief financial officer are charged with crimes.

但当一家公司及其首席财务官被控犯罪时，事情会变复杂。

There can be problems getting financing, bank loans. There can be problems with existing loans.

公司在获得融资、银行贷款方面可能会出现问题。现有贷款也可能出现问题。

You have to attest as a company that you're not lying, and now this company is charged with a 15-year scheme of lying.

作为一家公司，你必须证明你没有撒谎，现在这家公司被指控实施了15年的撒谎计划。

So while Trump's business has suffered reputational damage — for example, after the Capitol riots —

因此，尽管特朗普的企业已经声誉受损——这在国会大厦骚乱之后出现——

this brings it to a new level, being actually charged with serious crimes in New York.

但在纽约被控犯有严重罪行使其声誉受损的程度达到了新水平。

Now, we know that the Manhattan district attorney went to the Supreme Court twice to try to get Trump's tax returns,

现在，我们知道曼哈顿地区检察官曾两次前往最高法院，试图得到特朗普的报税表，

hired a team of prosecutors and forensic accountants, went through millions of pages of documents. Where does the investigation go from here?

检察官还雇佣了一个检察官和法务会计师团队，查阅了数百万页文件。调查将走向何方？

So yesterday, both the attorney general of New York, Letitia James, who has a separate civil suit, and the DA sat in front of the courtroom but then said nothing afterwards.

昨天，对特朗普提出民事诉讼的纽约总检察长莱蒂娅·詹姆斯和地方检察官都坐在法庭前，但他们后来什么也没说。

They pointedly said the investigation is ongoing.

他们明确表示，调查仍在进行中。

In court, prosecutors sought a protective order to keep evidence from disclosure to other people they might be investigating —

检察官在法庭上寻求保护令，以防止证据泄露给他们可能要调查的其他人——

other executives, the former president or his family.

比如其他高管、前总统或他的家人。

And the last count of the indictment points interestingly to a relationship between Allen Weisselberg and Donald Trump,

值得注意的是，起诉书的最后一项罪名指向了艾伦·韦塞尔伯格和唐纳德·特朗普之间的关系，

that Weisselberg had an entry deleted in Donald Trump's ledger.

韦塞尔伯格删除了唐纳德·特朗普账本中的一个条目。

That is a very strong hint that the DA's office is still digging into the relationship, and there's more to come.

这是一个非常强烈的暗示，检察官办公室仍在调查这段关系，之后会有更多信息浮出水面。

Reporter Andrea Bernstein, thanks for your reporting. We appreciate it.

以上是记者安德里亚·伯恩斯坦带来的报道，谢谢你。感谢。

Great to talk to you.

很高兴和你连线。