Trump and children prosecuted for 'unbelievable' fraud
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Donald Trump and his family members allegedly lied to tax collectors, lenders and insurers for years in a scheme that regularly misrepresented the value of his properties to enrich themselves, a complaint alleges filed by the New York Attorney General on Wednesday.
Attorney General Letitia James says that with the help of her children and other members of the Trump Organization, the former president provided fraudulent claims of his net worth and false asset appraisals "to obtain and satisfy loans, obtain insurance benefits and pay less taxes."
"In short, he lied to gain huge financial benefits for himself."
The in-depth investigation is one of many criminal, civil, and congressional investigations into Trump, who is eyeing another run for the White House in 2024.
Trump repeated his oft-used defense that the lawsuit was "another witch hunt" against him, while his spokesperson denounced it as a political move by Democrats against the Republican businessman.
James' office is asking the former president to pay at least $250 million in fines - a sum he says he made from fraud - and bar his family from running businesses in the area. 'State.
She also requested that Trump, along with his children Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump, be banned from buying property in the state for five years.
"The very foundation of his alleged net worth is rooted in incredible fraud and illegality," James said in a statement.
Referring to the title of Trump's book 'The Art of Deal', she said that "Mr. Trump thought he could get away with the art of theft, but today that conduct takes end."
– “Staggering” overvaluations –
James said his office, which does not have the authority to file criminal charges, was making a criminal referral to the US Department of Justice as well as the Internal Revenue Service based on the investigation of three years.
The lawsuit filed in the New York State Supreme Court includes allegations that Trump's annual financial statements for at least a decade have "grossly inflated" the property values of his assets - his station beach resort from Mar-a-Lago in Florida to Trump Tower in Manhattan - to an "astounding" degree.
He did it to get good loans with lower interest and premiums, said James, who is running for re-election in November.
His office counted that Trump and his associates published more than 200 false and misleading asset valuations.
The lawsuit details tactics used by Trump and his associates, claiming they would represent he had money on hand when he did not, wildly alter valuation properties and would use "objectively false numbers to calculate property values," including at his famous Fifth Avenue triplex.
Among the alleged crimes was also the valuation of 12 rent-stabilized-to-market units at his Trump Park Avenue property, which inflated the value 65 times, James said.
“White-collar financial crime is not a victimless crime,” James said.
"When well-connected people break the law to get more money than they are entitled to, it reduces the resources available to workers, ordinary citizens, small businesses and all taxpayers."
James' lawsuit calls for a judge to appoint an independent authority to oversee the Trump Organization's financial practices and remove the Trumps from their own family business.
AFP
Please share this story:
Donald Trump and his family members allegedly lied to tax collectors, lenders and insurers for years in a scheme that regularly misrepresented the value of his properties to enrich themselves, a complaint alleges filed by the New York Attorney General on Wednesday.
Attorney General Letitia James says that with the help of her children and other members of the Trump Organization, the former president provided fraudulent claims of his net worth and false asset appraisals "to obtain and satisfy loans, obtain insurance benefits and pay less taxes."
"In short, he lied to gain huge financial benefits for himself."
The in-depth investigation is one of many criminal, civil, and congressional investigations into Trump, who is eyeing another run for the White House in 2024.
Trump repeated his oft-used defense that the lawsuit was "another witch hunt" against him, while his spokesperson denounced it as a political move by Democrats against the Republican businessman.
James' office is asking the former president to pay at least $250 million in fines - a sum he says he made from fraud - and bar his family from running businesses in the area. 'State.
She also requested that Trump, along with his children Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump, be banned from buying property in the state for five years.
"The very foundation of his alleged net worth is rooted in incredible fraud and illegality," James said in a statement.
Referring to the title of Trump's book 'The Art of Deal', she said that "Mr. Trump thought he could get away with the art of theft, but today that conduct takes end."
– “Staggering” overvaluations –
James said his office, which does not have the authority to file criminal charges, was making a criminal referral to the US Department of Justice as well as the Internal Revenue Service based on the investigation of three years.
The lawsuit filed in the New York State Supreme Court includes allegations that Trump's annual financial statements for at least a decade have "grossly inflated" the property values of his assets - his station beach resort from Mar-a-Lago in Florida to Trump Tower in Manhattan - to an "astounding" degree.
He did it to get good loans with lower interest and premiums, said James, who is running for re-election in November.
His office counted that Trump and his associates published more than 200 false and misleading asset valuations.
The lawsuit details tactics used by Trump and his associates, claiming they would represent he had money on hand when he did not, wildly alter valuation properties and would use "objectively false numbers to calculate property values," including at his famous Fifth Avenue triplex.
Among the alleged crimes was also the valuation of 12 rent-stabilized-to-market units at his Trump Park Avenue property, which inflated the value 65 times, James said.
“White-collar financial crime is not a victimless crime,” James said.
"When well-connected people break the law to get more money than they are entitled to, it reduces the resources available to workers, ordinary citizens, small businesses and all taxpayers."
James' lawsuit calls for a judge to appoint an independent authority to oversee the Trump Organization's financial practices and remove the Trumps from their own family business.
AFP
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