Wednesday, following a three-year investigation into the former president’s finances, New York attorney general Letitia James filed a civil case against Donald Trump for claimed “many acts of fraud.”
After reviewing “millions of papers” with a team of investigators, she informed reporters that she was suing Trump for “violating the law in order to make riches for himself, his family, and his organization.” James stated that Trump and his three adult children, Don Jr., Eric, and Ivanka Trump, ‘consistently’ overstated the value of their assets.
The attorney general, who is running for re-election in November, stated in financial filings from 2001 to 2021 that the strategy yielded a total financial advantage of $250 million, including interest savings and transaction profits. In response, the former president asserted that James, who is black, is a “racist” and that she is the “fraud.”
Here is a summary of the lawsuit’s most serious allegations:
Trump asserted that his Trump Tower penthouse apartment was three times its real size and valued at a staggering $327 million.
According to James, Trump claimed his penthouse in Trump Tower in Manhattan was 30,000 square feet, despite the fact that it was only 11,000 square feet in size. Trump valued the property at $327 million based on the exaggerated square footage, a price which James deemed “absurd.”
She stated that no other New York City flat had ever sold for that amount.
Trump valued Mar-a-Lago at $739 million, roughly 10 times its actual value.
According to James, Trump’s Florida golf resort was appraised at $739 million on the incorrect assumption that it was unrestricted property that could be developed for residential use. Her office noted that Trump donated the property’s residential development rights and severely prohibited any alterations. She asserts that the property should have been appraised at $75 million and that it generates roughly $25 million in annual revenue.
Trump rated his Park Avenue property based on the apartments’ market value, even though they were rent-stabilized and worth $84.5 million less in total.
The Trump Organization received a 2020 valuation of $84.5 million for Trump Park Avenue, a 32-story condominium building with 120 apartments and eight penthouses.
On his 2020 financial disclosure, Trump reported the property’s value as $135,8 million.
In 2011 and 2012, Trump ‘ignored legal constraints’ and advertised 12 rent-stabilized units in the building according to what they would be valued if they were able to be rented at market pricing. Trump asserted that the condos were worth $50 million, more than 65 times their 2010 appraisal value of $750,000.
Trump valued his Seven Springs home at up to $291 million, roughly 10 times what it was appraised for just a few years previously.
In 1995, Trump paid $7.5 million for his 213-acre home in Westchester County, New York. In 2006, it was estimated to be worth $30 million, but in Trump’s financial records from 2011 to 2021, the property was valued at $261 million and $291 million.
In 1995, Trump paid $7.5 million for his 213-acre home in Westchester County, New York.
Trump slams New York Attorney General Letitia “Peekaboo” James as “racist” as she initiates a lawsuit against him.
Trump stated in a post on Truth Social, “Another Witch Hunt by a Racist Attorney General, Letitia James, who failed in her run for Governor, receiving almost no public support, and is now doing poorly against Law & Order A.G. nominee, highly recognized Michael Henry.”
I never believed this lawsuit would be pursued until I saw her dismal polling results. She is a liar who ran on a “Get Trump” platform, despite the fact that the city under her charge is one of the most violent and murderous in the world.
Trump added in a follow-up post: ‘Attorney General Letitia “Peekaboo” James, a total crime fighting disaster in New York, is spending all of her time fighting for very powerful and well-represented banks and insurance companies, who were fully paid, made a lot of money, and never had a complaint about me, rather than fighting murder and violent crime, which is destroying New York State. She is a failed attorney general whose incompetence in fighting crime is prompting record numbers of people and businesses to abandon New York. Bye, bye!’
Trump estimated that 40 Wall Street was worth more than $300 million, but its actual value was $530 million.
Trump’s 40 Wall Street building, for which he holds the ground lease, was valued at $220 million in 2012. In 2013, the Trump Organization estimated the property’s worth at $530 million.
Trump told Nevada tax officials. Trump International Hotel and Tower in Las Vegas was worth significantly less than the $108 million stated in his financial statement. Together with businessman Phillip Ruffin, Trump owns a fifty percent stake in a hotel condominium tower. In 2015, the Trump Organization submitted a valuation of $24,950,000 to contest taxes owed to Nevada, but his statement from the same year indicated the property was worth $108 million.
Trump did not account for rising rent costs when valuing Niketown in the mid-$400 million level.
Trump has two ground leases for a property adjacent to Trump Tower that he rented to Nike for many years. In 2020 and 2021, Trump estimated the building’s value to be in the mid-$400 million range, however James’ office determined the property was worth between $225 and $250 million, alleging that Trump had failed to account for ‘escalating scheduled rent expenses.’
Trump listed the worth of his golf and social clubs using “deceptive ways.”
Trump estimated the value of his 12 clubs using a number of ‘deceptive tactics,’ according to James’ office. The first is a ‘fixed asset plan’ in which Trump allegedly valued his clubs based only on their fixed assets without accounting for depreciation. Other proposed strategies involved including the value of memberships in the appraisal but putting Trump’s liability for these memberships as $0. As part of a ‘brand premium plan,’ the Trump Organization inflated the value of golf courses and clubs by up to 30 percent for the ‘Trump Brand’ while maintaining that brand premiums were not included.
Trump assigned a fixed asset valuation of $127 million to his Turnberry golf property, despite the fact that it has been operating at a deficit.
Trump’s golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, was valued at around $127 million in 2017. Trump’s valuation of the course based on a fixed asset scheme was ‘false and misleading,’ according to James, who asserts that the course has operated at a loss since then.
New York Inc. Letitia James announced on Wednesday that her office will file a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump and his adult children.
James’s lawsuit also names Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump as defendants.