New York AG says Trump’s company misled banks, tax officials to get loans, benefits

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NEW YORK (AP) – The New York attorney general’s office told a court Tuesday that its investigators had discovered evidence that former U.S. president Donald Trump’s company used “fraudulent or misleading” asset valuations to obtain assets. loan and tax benefits.

The court filing said state authorities have not yet decided whether to bring a civil case in connection with the allegations, but investigators will have to question Trump and his two eldest sons as part of the investigation.

Trump and his lawyers said the investigation was politically motivated.

In court documents, Attorney General Letitia James’s office provided its most detailed accounting of its investigation into allegations that Trump’s company repeatedly inflated the value of assets to obtain favorable terms for the loan, or erred in stating what land was worth to reduce its tax burden.

The Trump Organization, it said, overstated the amount of land donations made in New York and California in papers submitted to the IRS to justify several million dollars in tax deductions.

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The company incorrectly reported the size of Trump’s Manhattan penthouse, saying it was nearly three times the actual size – a difference in value of about $ 200 million, James ’office said, citing deposition testimony from the longtime financial Trump’s 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 aimed at coercing Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. who complied with subpoenas seeking their testimony.

File – Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. on November 2, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Investigators, according to court papers, have “developed significant additional evidence stating that the Trump Organization used fraudulent or fraudulent asset values ​​to obtain multiple economic benefits, including loans, coverage. of insurance, and tax deductions. “

Messages seeking comment were left with lawyers for Trumps.

Trump’s legal team sought to block the subpoenas, calling them “an unprecedented and unconstitutional maneuver.” They said James was not properly attempting 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 end his investigation. In the lawsuit, his lawyers claimed that the attorney general, a Democrat, violated Republican constitutional rights in a “thinly veiled effort to publicly destroy Trump and his colleagues.”

In the past, the former Republican president has denied James’ investigation and Bragg’s investigation as part of a “witch hunt.”

New York Attorney General Letitia James was presented at a news conference in her office, in New York, May 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In a statement late Tuesday, James’ office said it had not yet decided whether to proceed with legal action, but said the evidence gathered so far shows that the investigation should proceed without hindrance.

“For more than two years, the Trump Organization has used delay and litigation tactics in an attempt to obstruct a legitimate investigation into its financial dealings,” James said. “So far in our investigation, we have discovered significant evidence suggesting Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization wrongly and fraudulently value multiple assets and misrepresent those amounts to financial institutions for profit. of the economy. “

Although James ’civil investigation was separate from the criminal investigation, his office was involved in both, sending several attorneys to work with prosecutors from the Manhattan DA’s office.

In court papers, James’ office said the evidence shows that Trump’s company:

-It listed its property in Seven Springs north of New York City as worth $ 291 million, based on the dubious assumption that it could reap $ 161 million from the construction of nine luxury homes.

On Feb. 23, 2021, the photo file showed, Seven Springs, a property owned by former U.S. President Donald Trump that was covered in snow in Mount Kisco, New York (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

– Added a “brand premium” of 15% to 30% to the value of some properties because they carry the Trump name, despite financial statements explicitly stating that they do not include brand value.

-Increased the value of a suburban New York golf club by millions of dollars by counting fees for memberships that were not sold or never paid.

– A Park Avenue condominium tower is valued at $ 350 million, based on the proceeds it can reap from unsold units, though many of those apartments are likely to sell at cheap rates because they are covered by consolidation laws of rent.

– An apartment rented to Ivanka Trump is valued as high as $ 25 million, even though she has the option to buy it for $ 8.5 million.

– Documents said its stake in an office building, 40 Wall Street, was worth $ 525 million to $ 602 million – between two to three times the estimated reach reached by appraisers working for lender Capital One.

A judge previously sided with James in an earlier request to question another of Trump’s sons, Trump Organization executive Eric Trump, who eventually sat for a deposition but refused to answer some questions. .

Eric Trump speaks at a campaign rally, October 26, 2020, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Last year, the Manhattan district attorney brought tax fraud charges against the Trump Organization and Weisselberg, its longtime chief finance officer.

Weisselberg is not guilty of allegations that he and the company evaded taxes on beneficial benefits paid to executives.

Both investigations are at least partly related to allegations made in news reports and by Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, that Trump has a history of misrepresentation of the value of assets.

Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg appears at the State Supreme Court in Manhattan on September 20, 2021, in New York. (Curtis Means/Dailymail.com via AP, Pool)

The revelations about the attorney general’s investigation came the same day when Trump’s ally Rudy Giuliani and other members of the legal team seeking to retract the results of the 2020 presidential election were subpoenaed by a committee of Chamber investigating the insurgency in the US Capitol.

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