New York

Former US President Donald Trump's most trusted top business executive Allen Weisselberg must pay $2 million in taxes, penalties, and interest for tax evasion and fraud and spend the next five months in jail following an order passed by a Manhattan judge.

Weissleberg, a former CFO in Trump's businesses, pleaded guilty to 15 charges of felony involving tax evasion under the plea bargain deal his lawyers negotiated, citing his advanced age, but he never turned on his former boss.

His admissions were damaging for the Trump family business, but prosecutors could never convince him to turn on the former President himself.

Weisselberg, one of Trump's most trusted lieutenants, stood before a judge in a Lower Manhattan courtroom on Thursday and admitted that he had "conspired with the former President's company to commit numerous crimes."

Under the plea deal, Weisselberg must pay nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest after accepting lavish off-the-books perks from Trump and his company, including a leased Mercedes-Benz, an apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side and private school tuition for his grandchildren.

Former President, Trump - who is not accused of wrongdoing - has described the Manhattan District Attorney's criminal investigation into his family's real estate company as a witch hunt.

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The case relates to a 15-year scheme that prosecutors said helped executives at The Trump Organisation avoid paying taxes on corporate benefits such as rent, luxury car payments, and private school fees.