Former US President Donald Trump will be charged over hush money payments made to a porn star just before the 2016 presidential election.
The details of the case against him have not yet been released.
A grand jury has voted to indict him after investigating a $130,000 pay-out to Stormy Daniels in an attempt to buy her silence over an alleged affair, the BBC reports.
Mr Trump, 76, denies wrongdoing. He is the first serving or former US president to face a criminal charge.
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who has been pursuing the investigation, confirmed that it had contacted Mr Trump’s attorney to “co-ordinate his surrender” on unspecified charges.
The ex-president, who lives in Florida, is expected to fly to New York on Monday and be arraigned in court on Tuesday, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.
The charges in the indictment will be read to him at the hearing, which is set to last about 10-15 minutes.
The United States Secret Service – which is tasked with protecting serving and former US presidents – will be in charge of security for the court appearance.
Mr Trump faces the prospect of having his fingerprints recorded and his mugshot taken, like all defendants in criminal cases.
In a statement, Mr Trump lashed out at the Manhattan district attorney. He called the prosecutor a “disgrace”, and accused him of “doing Joe Biden’s dirty work”.
“The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to ‘Get Trump,’ but now they’ve done the unthinkable – indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant Election Interference,” he said.
Mr Trump has repeatedly slammed the investigation in his hometown of New York as a political “witch hunt” led by his opponents.
Mr Bragg, who is a registered Democrat, has denied pursuing a political vendetta against Mr Trump. “We evaluate cases in our jurisdiction based on the facts, the law, and the evidence,” he tweeted earlier this month.
Mr Trump’s lawyer, Susan Necheles, said in a statement: “He did not commit any crime. We will vigorously fight this political prosecution in court.”
The inquiry stems from an allegation that Mr Trump directed his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to pay Stormy Daniels, a former porn actress and stripper, less than two weeks before the 2016 presidential election to prevent her speaking out about an alleged affair with Mr Trump.
Ms Daniels has said she had a sexual encounter with Mr Trump at a Lake Tahoe hotel in 2006 – the year after he married his current wife, Melania.
Cohen has said in court that he made the $130,000 settlement “in co-ordination with and at the direction of” the former president. Cohen was jailed from 2018-20 on multiple charges.
Following the indictment, Ms Daniels thanked her supporters. “I have so many messages coming in that I can’t respond…also don’t want to spill my champagne,” she tweeted.
Mr Trump denies having an affair with Stormy Daniels (pictured)
The criminal case could shape the 2024 presidential race. Mr Trump is currently the front-runner among all declared and potential contenders for the Republican White House nomination.
But there is nothing in US law that prevents a candidate who is found guilty of a crime from campaigning for, and serving as, president – even from prison.
