President Trump’s former longtime lawyer Michael Cohen is under investigation for tax fraud related to his taxi medallion business, according to a new report.
Federal prosecutors in New York are assessing whether Cohen’s income from the business was underreported in federal tax returns, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Authorities are also investigating if Cohen was allowed to take out loans through Sterling National Bank without providing necessary documentation, the report said.
Prosecutors have subpoenaed Cohen’s former accountant Jeffrey Getzel in the investigation. Getzel prepared many of the financial documents Cohen submitted to banks.
Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis declined to comment to the Wall Street Journal. Cohen has denied any wrongdoing.
The FBI raided Cohen’s home, office, and hotel room in April, seeking bank and business records on Cohen’s dealing in the taxi industry, his communications with the Trump campaign, and information on payments made to women who claimed they had affairs with Trump.
Cohen’s relationship with Trump has turned sour in recent weeks as the news broke that Cohen secretly recorded a conversation with Trump discussing a payment to a former Playboy model two months before the 2016 election.
Last month CNN reported that Cohen was willing to tell special counsel Robert Mueller that Trump knew in advance about a now-infamous Trump Tower meeting between Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya predicated on the promise of dirt on political rival Hillary Clinton. Trump denied this was true.
