Defense attorneys in the New York criminal tax-fraud trial of former President Donald Trump's international real-estate company unveiled their strategy in the case on Monday — keep all blame off the former president and anyone else with the Trump name. 

Prosecutors in the high-profile trial playing out in New York Supreme Court in lower Manhattan allege that the Trump Organization ran a 15-year scheme to dodge payroll taxes by giving top executives significant compensation in the form of untaxed "perks" like luxury cars and rent-free Trump-branded apartments. 

Trump Organization lawyer Susan Necheles told the jury during opening statements on Monday that the fraud scheme "started with" former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg "and it ended with Allen Weisselberg."

Weisselberg, a prosecution witness in the trial who is still on Trump's payroll, pleaded guilty to the tax-dodge scheme over the summer. He agreed to testify in the case as part of his plea deal. 

"So when the prosecutor said the Trump Organization did something illegal for Allen Weisselberg, what they really mean is that Allen Weisselberg did something illegal," Necheles told the 12-person jury.

Necheles continued, "The evidence will show that it's all about Allen Weisselberg. But Allen Weisselberg does not own the Trump Organization."