If Trump himself, his business empire, or anyone else close to him ever faces criminal charges, it could come in the form of corruption charges according to former prosecutors who spoke to Politico.
The most likely avenue for criminal charges against Trumpworld or his business can be found in New York's enterprise corruption laws, they say, which apparently aren't even that difficult to invoke. All it would take is three crimes.
New York’s enterprise corruption statute — which carries the potential for severe penalties — can be applied to money-making businesses alleged to have repeatedly engaged in criminal activity as a way to boost their bottom line. [...]
The state law — sometimes called “little RICO” — can be invoked with proof of as few as three crimes involving a business or other enterprise and can carry a prison term of up to 25 years, along with a mandatory minimum of one to three years.
New York’s enterprise corruption law — part of the Organized Crime Control Act — was passed in 1986 and modeled on the better-known federal statute dating to 1970, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
If New York's enterprise corruption law was written to fight the mafia, that would make perfect sense in this case. Trump's family and businesses look like organized crime to me even from the outside without knowing what's taking place under hood.
I've speculated that seeing the Trump Organization dissolved is more likely than watching Trump or his children take a perp walk, but I was unaware of the state's version of RICO at the time. That seems even more likely to me now. And if it only takes three crimes to invoke the state's corruption law, they may not even have to look that hard.
I have to remind myself that there's no guarantee that any of this will conclude with criminal charges and a trial, but there sure is a lot of smoke for there to be no fire.