State prosecutors in Manhattan who are investigating former President Donald J. Trump and his family business are sharpening their focus on the company’s long-serving chief financial officer, asking witnesses questions about his dealings at the company, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The increased focus on the executive, Allen H. Weisselberg, could step up pressure on him to cooperate with the investigation if the prosecutors unearth evidence of wrongdoing on his part. He has served as the Trump Organization’s financial gatekeeper for more than two decades and could be a vital source of information for the government about the inner workings of the company.
In recent weeks, the prosecutors working for the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., have been interviewing witnesses who know Mr. Weisselberg and have asked at least one witness about Mr. Weisselberg’s sons, Barry and Jack Weisselberg, according to two of the people with knowledge of the matter.
Barry Weisselberg has been the property manager of Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park, and Jack works at Ladder Capital, one of Mr. Trump’s biggest lenders.
The district attorney’s office has not accused Mr. Weisselberg or his sons of any wrongdoing, and there is no indication that the sons are a focus of the investigation.
If the prosecutors were to secure Allen Weisselberg’s cooperation, it might provide a significant boost to the long-running investigation and deliver a blow to Mr. Trump, who has long depended on Mr. Weisselberg’s unflinching loyalty.
Prosecutors are examining, among other things, whether Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely manipulated property values to obtain loans and tax benefits. For his part, Mr. Trump, a Republican, has repeatedly dismissed the inquiry as a politically motivated “witch hunt” and “fishing expedition” by Mr. Vance, a Democrat.
Mr. Weisselberg, 73, an accountant, began his career working for Mr. Trump’s father and has overseen the Trump Organization’s books for decades. He recently ran the business with Mr. Trump’s adult sons during the Trump presidency and remained loyal to the company even after his name surfaced during congressional and federal investigations into Mr. Trump or his business.
More recently, Mr. Weisselberg has become a figure of interest to the district attorney’s investigation, according to the people with knowledge of the matter. In addition to potential financial crimes, the investigation has focused on the possible role Mr. Weisselberg and other Trump Organization employees played in hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to two women who said they had affairs with Mr. Trump.
A spokesman for Mr. Vance declined to comment on the investigation. A lawyer for Allen Weisselberg, Mary E. Mulligan, also declined to comment, as did a representative of the Trump…
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