New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday sued former President Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, three of his adult children and others for allegedly widespread fraud involving years’ worth of false financial statements related to the company’s business.
It also seeks to permanently bar Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump from serving as an officer of a company in New York, and permanently prohibit the Trump companies named in the suit from doing business in New York state.
James said she has asked federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the IRS to investigate Trump for possible federal crimes. She said that evidence obtained during her three-year civil probe of Trump indicated possible crimes of bank fraud and making false statements to financial institutions.
James said Trump massively overstated the values of his assets in statements to banks, insurance companies and the IRS to obtain more favorable loan and insurance terms for his company, as well as to lower its tax obligations.
“Trump falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars,” James said at a news conference, where she announced she will seek to bar Trump and his company from acquiring any New York real estate for five years, and bar them from applying for loans from banks charted in the state for the same period of time.
New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday sued former President Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, three of his adult children and others for allegedly widespread fraud involving years’ worth of false financial statements related to the company’s business.
It also seeks to permanently bar Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump from serving as an officer of a company in New York, and permanently prohibit the Trump companies named in the suit from doing business in New York state.
James said she has asked federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the IRS to investigate Trump for possible federal crimes. She said that evidence obtained during her three-year civil probe of Trump indicated possible crimes of bank fraud and making false statements to financial institutions.
James said Trump massively overstated the values of his assets in statements to banks, insurance companies and the IRS to obtain more favorable loan and insurance terms for his company, as well as to lower its tax obligations.
“Trump falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars,” James said at a news conference, where she announced she will seek to bar Trump and his company from acquiring any New York real estate for five years, and bar them from applying for loans from banks charted in the state for the same period of time.
These seeds were planted during Michael Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee in 2019. I remember AOC asking some very pointed questions about Trump property valuations and who would have more information. The other shoe just dropped.
For decades, Trump and his lieutenants lied to Forbes about his finances, as we have duly noted over the years in the annual Forbes 400 issue listing the richest Americans. In the 1982 inaugural edition, the real estate scion appeared alongside his father with a combined estimated net worth of $200 million—and even then insisted on a higher valuation: “Donald claims $500 million,” we noted. By 2000, the boasts were bolder: “In The Donald’s world, worth more than $5 billion—back on Earth, worth considerably less.” When he was running for office, we explained how his net-worth obsession “opens windows into Trump the entrepreneur, the candidate and the person.” Two Forbes journalists received subpoenas last year from the Manhattan district attorney and had to testify before a grand jury to confirm information in two articles detailing Trump’s shenanigans.
The former president’s lies have suddenly assumed greater significance. They now constitute potential evidence in multiple investigations—the civil case by the state attorney general and a criminal one by the Manhattan D.A.—with the potential to cost Trump millions of dollars and, perhaps, another chance at the White House. He has denied any wrongdoing, calling the attorney general’s investigation a “vindictive and self-serving fishing expedition.” Trump’s lawyers, meanwhile, have done their best to keep documents out of the hands of authorities. But Letitia James’ office has nonetheless amassed a trove of materials and filed hundreds of documents in court. The government still doesn’t have the full picture, though, in part because Donald Trump lives like a man trying to avoid a paper trail—no texts, no emails. Forbes, however, has records those prosecutors do not, including notes from interviews over the years and a 2015 audio recording that places Trump smack in the center of the alleged deceit.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-sued-by-new-york-attorney-general-fraud-2022-09-21/
New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday sued former President Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, three of his adult children and others for allegedly widespread fraud involving years’ worth of false financial statements related to the company’s business.
The 220-page civil lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court seeks at least $250 million in damages.
It also seeks to permanently bar Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump from serving as an officer of a company in New York, and permanently prohibit the Trump companies named in the suit from doing business in New York state.
James said she has asked federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the IRS to investigate Trump for possible federal crimes. She said that evidence obtained during her three-year civil probe of Trump indicated possible crimes of bank fraud and making false statements to financial institutions.
James said Trump massively overstated the values of his assets in statements to banks, insurance companies and the IRS to obtain more favorable loan and insurance terms for his company, as well as to lower its tax obligations.
“Trump falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars,” James said at a news conference, where she announced she will seek to bar Trump and his company from acquiring any New York real estate for five years, and bar them from applying for loans from banks charted in the state for the same period of time.