EXPLAINER: Why and when are companies criminally charged?

NEW YORK (AP) — Lawyers representing former president Donald Trump’s company say they believe the Manhattan district attorney plans to ask a grand jury to indict the Trump Organization in an investigation that involves fringe benefits paid to employees. Charging a corporate entity isn’t unusual. State and federal prosecutors have a long history of filing criminal charges against corporations for mostly the same reasons prosecutions are brought against individuals. Trump says he’s done nothing wrong and is being unfairly targeted by Democrats out to undermine him politically. Another company that has faced legal scrutiny in the past is BP for the Deepwater Horizon spill.