Fraud evidence detailed in Trump case
AG wants testimony from ex-president, 2 children
NEW YORK – The New York attorney general’s office has told a court that its investigators had uncovered evidence former President Donald Trump’s company used “fraudulent or misleading” asset valuations to get loans and tax benefits.
The court filing said that state authorities haven’t yet decided whether to bring a civil lawsuit in connection with the allegations but that investigators need to question Trump and his two eldest children as part of the inquiry.
The Trump Organization issued a statement calling the investigation “baseless” and politically motivated.
In the court documents, Attorney General Letitia James’ office gave its most detailed accounting yet of a longrunning investigation of allegations that Trump’s company exaggerated the value of assets to get favorable loan terms or misstated what land was worth to slash its tax burden.
The Trump Organization, it said, had overstated the value of land donations in New York and California on paperwork submitted to the IRS to justify several million dollars in tax deductions.
The company misreported the size of Trump’s Manhattan penthouse, saying it was nearly three times its actual size – a difference in value of about $200 million, James’ office said. It cited deposition testimony from Trump’s longtime financial chief Allen Weisselberg, who was charged last year with tax fraud in a parallel criminal investigation.
James’ office detailed its findings in a court motion seeking to force Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. to comply with subpoenas seeking their testimony.
Investigators, the court papers said, had “developed significant additional evidence indicating that the Trump Organization used fraudulent or misleading asset valuations to obtain a host of economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage, and tax deductions.”
In its statement Wednesday, the Trump Organization said “the only one misleading the public is Letitia James.”
“She defrauded New Yorkers by basing her entire candidacy on a promise to get Trump at all costs without having seen a shred of evidence and in violation of every conceivable ethical rule,” they wrote. “Three years later she is now faced with the stark reality that she has no case.”
Donald Trump Jr. said on Twitter that the investigation “is nothing more than political retribution from her on behalf of the entire Dem Party. She should be disbarred!”
Trump’s legal team has sought to block the subpoenas. They say James is improperly seeking to obtain testimony that could be used in the parallel criminal investigation, which is being overseen by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Trump sued James in federal court last month, seeking to put an end to her investigation. In the suit, his lawyers claimed the attorney general, a Democrat, had violated the Republican’s constitutional rights in a “thinly-veiled effort to publicly malign Trump and his associates.”
In its statement late Tuesday, James’ office said the evidence shows the investigation should proceed unimpeded.
“For more than two years, the Trump Organization has used delay tactics and litigation in an attempt to thwart a legitimate investigation into its financial dealings,” James said. “Thus far in our investigation, we have uncovered significant evidence that suggests Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic benefit.”
Although James’ civil investigation is separate from the criminal investigation, her office has been involved in both, dispatching several lawyers to work side-by-side with prosecutors from the Manhattan D.A.’s office.
James’ office said that under state law, it could seek “a broad range of remedies” against companies found to have committed commercial fraud, “including revoking a license to conduct business within the state, moving to have an officer or director removed from board of directors, and restitution and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains.”
In the court papers, James’ office said evidence shows Trump’s company:
Listed his Seven Springs estate north of New York City as being worth $291 million, based on the dubious assumption that it could reap $161 million from building nine luxury homes.
Added a “brand premium” of 15% to 30% to the value of some properties because they carried the Trump name, despite financial statements stating they didn’t incorporate brand value.
Inflated the value of a suburban New York golf club by millions of dollars by counting fees for memberships that weren’t sold or were never paid.
Valued a Park Avenue condominium tower at $350 million based on proceeds it could reap from unsold units, even though many of those apartments were likely to sell for less because they were covered by rent stabilization laws.
Valued an apartment being rented to Ivanka Trump as high as $25 million, even though she had an option to buy it for $8.5 million.
Said in documents that its stake in an office building, 40 Wall Street, was worth $525 million to $602 million – two to three times the estimate reached by appraisers for the lender Capital One.
Last year, the Manhattan district attorney brought tax fraud charges against the Trump Organization and Weisselberg, who pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he and the company evaded taxes on lucrative fringe benefits paid to executives.