NY Attorney General finds evidence of Trump family fraud
New York Attorney General Letitia James said she found evidence suggesting the Trump family fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values for financial gain.
In a court document released Tuesday night, James said that as beneficial owner of the Trump Organization, former President Donald Trump “had ultimate authority over a broad swath of Trump Organization conduct involving misstatements to counterparties, including financial institutions and the Internal Revenue Service.”
James seeks to question Trump and his two eldest children, Donald and Ivanka, as part of her civil investigation.
In the text, the attorney general said that the three should personally testify in court.
“Until January 2017, Mrs. Trump was a primary contact for the Trump Organization’s largest lender, Deutsche Bank. In connection with this job, Mrs. Trump caused misleading financial statements to be submitted to Deutsche Bank and the federal government,” says the court document
It added: “since 2017, Donald Trump, Jr. has had authority over numerous financial statements that contain misleading asset valuations.”
The court filing provided a detailed description of the alleged fraudulent valuations and misrepresentations
Among them are that the former president’s penthouse in the Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, was three times smaller than declared, overvaluing its price by $200 million
The Trumps have claimed this is a politically motivated investigation and urged the court to vacate the subpoenas.
“So far in our investigation, we have uncovered significant evidence suggesting that Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for financial gain,” James said in a statement on Tuesday night.
“The Trumps must comply with our legal subpoenas to produce documents and testimony because no one in this country gets to choose if and how the law applies to them. We will not be deterred in our efforts to continue this investigation and ensure that no one is above the law.”
James launched her investigation in March 2019 and suspects the Trump Organization fraudulently overstated the value of certain properties when seeking bank loans.
Eric, Trump’s son and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, was questioned by James’ office about this case in October 2020.
The former president faces pressure from several investigations.
In Washington, he is trying to prevent a legislative investigation into the January 6 attack by his supporters on Capitol Hill, from accessing White House records related to that day.
In July last year, the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded not guilty in a New York court to 15 felony counts of tax fraud and evasion. His trial is scheduled to begin in the middle of this year.
