Tag: The Trump Organization

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Crime Donald Trump The Trump Organization

Former Trump Org. Employee Tells Prosecutors About Massive Insurance Fraud By Donald

 

Already under investigation in New York for allegedly committing financial fraud, it now appears that failed, one-term former President Donald Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, are also facing charges of insurance fraud after a former employee at one of Trump’s golf clubs says Trump repeatedly filed inflated damage claims.

Rolling Stone reports the alleged fraud took place at the Briarcliff golf course:

“When a deluge flooded the Trump Organization’s Westchester County golf course and a nearby town in 2011, the organization used a wildly inflated claim to score an insurance payout of nearly $1.3 million, pulling in far more than what it spent to repair the course. The previously unreported insurance claim at Trump National Golf Club in the Village of Briarcliff Manor far outstripped the cost to repair the damages, which were about $130,000 to $150,000, one of the sources says.”

The former employee also noted:

“The work was never completed. They basically band-aided it.”

Initially, Trump’s company filed a wildly inflated claim but were refused payment when the insurer demanded Trump provide receipts, which were never made available.

This latest claim of fraud could place Trump and Trump Org. in even greater legal jeopardy:

The Westchester County District Attorney’s office has opened a criminal investigation into financial dealings at Trump’s Briarcliff club. The New York Times, which first reported the investigation, said it appears focused at least in part on whether the Trump Organization misled local officials about the value of the property to reduce its taxes. The organization’s alleged insurance shenanigans at Briarcliff may help explain how the Trump Organization, year over year, took in more from insurance than it paid out in premiums. One of the sources said the company would routinely gather overinflated repair estimates, often from members of Trump’s clubs, that could be used to justify insurance claims. In a conversation with top company officials, the source learned that the Trump Organization calculated that it got more than $2 back from insurers for every dollar it paid in — a return of more than 100 percent. Broadly, the source says, the company viewed insurance not as an expense, but rather as an ongoing source of profit.

With Trump hinting that he plans to run for president again in 2024, it could be that his strategy is to block all legal actions against him by getting presidential immunity from any lawsuits if and when he’s back in the White House. Many legal experts say charges against the former president and his company need to be filed as soon as possible to make sure Trump is held liable for his misdeeds.

 

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Crime Donald Trump The Trump Organization

Former Prosecutor Says He’s Found Evidence Of Financial Fraud By Donald Trump

First things first. Let’s admit that when it comes to Donald Trump, those of us who loathe him are always chomping at the bits and impatiently waiting for the day he’s indicted and booked for the crimes he’s committed.

Now that we have that out of the way, the time has come to take a close look at the case that has already been filed against the Trump Organization and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg, who is facing decades behind bars if he doesn’t agree to cooperate with prosecutors and testify against his boss.

This leads us to an incredibly illuminating article from Andrea Bernstein of The New Yorker, who notes:

Even if no additional charges are filed, the former President’s company faces a potential reckoning. The charging documents and interviews with former prosecutors and white-collar defense lawyers indicate that the District Attorney is accumulating evidence of pervasive tax fraud. The case goes to the heart of what made—and still makes—Trump Trump.

Of course, as he so often does, Donald will likely toss Weisselberg under the bus and claim he had no idea that illegal activity was taking place at his company.

So is there any possible way to prove that Trump did indeed know Weissselberg was inflating the value of the Trump Organization in order to get loans from banks and then deflating the values when it came time to pay taxes?

One section of the indictment against Weisselberg and the Trump Organization shows that the former president won’t be able to claim ignorance of the crimes committed in his name:

People familiar with Trump’s legal battles also took notice of one element of the allegation: Weisselberg is described as making changes to something called “Donald J. Trump’s Detail General Ledger.” If true, the allegation would mean that, in addition to Weisselberg and Trump’s accountants keeping a set of records detailing the company’s finances, there was another ledger, one specifically maintained, the name implies, for Donald J. Trump. “My jaw literally dropped when I saw that,” Tristan Snell, a former New York assistant attorney general, who investigated claims of fraud against Trump University that resulted in a twenty-five-million-dollar settlement, said. “If there was a ledger for him, it blows up the notion that Trump didn’t know about it—it means there was a set of numbers prepared for Donald Trump.” Snell said the public disclosure of the separate ledger’s existence is a signal from the prosecutors to the former President: “We have your ledger.”

They have his ledger. And the ledger shows that crimes were committed and Donald Trump knew about them. He was fully aware of the massive levels of bank and tax fraud. He knew and he condoned it. It can even be said that he expected those who worked for him to do whatever was necessary to help him commit the fraud.

Donald Trump is going to prison. There’s no way to predict when, but it will happen. We’ll just have to tamp down our impatience and wait. But it certainly sounds like the wait will be worthwhile and richly rewarded.

 

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Crime Eric Trump The Trump Organization

Eric Trump’s Attorney In Massive Fraud Lawsuit Dumps Him

An attorney representing Eric Trump in a fraud lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James against the Trump Organization has abruptly resigned, according to Forbes, though it remains unclear why he did so.

Marc Mukasey of Mukasey Frenchman LLP informed a New York state Supreme Court judge in Manhattan that he was withdrawing from the case on Sept. 14. The move comes one day after a judge’s order to seal a stipulation between the parties was filed. Before that agreement, the docket shows no activity in this case since January. It’s not clear if there’s any connection between the agreement and Mukasey’s departure.

Mukasey declined to comment on the record for this story. He has represented Eric Trump in the case since it was filed in August 2020. Eric and representatives from the Trump Organization have not replied to inquiries.

Interestingly, Mukasey is a former law partner of Rudy Giuliani, who once represented former President Donald Trump until the ex-president stopped paying Giuliani for his services. The former New York City mayor is also under criminal investigation in several jurisdictions for his actions during the 2020 election, especially the numerous attempts made by Trump and his allies to overturn the results despite their failure to provide a scintilla of evidence that any fraud or irregularities took place in the balloting. Giuliani has also been barred from practicing law in the state of New York since July.

Mukasey has represented some controversial and high-profile clients over the years, including rogue Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, oil-field service company Halliburton, and basketball coach Rick Pitino.

Attorney General James is investigating Trump Org. for allegedly falsifying the value of its assets to secure loans and reduce its tax liability.

 

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Business Donald Trump

Asking Price For Trump Condos Is Plummeting And Tenants Are Refusing To Live In Them

As he faces legal problems in several states and his name continues to be associated with the hatred, violence, and cruelty he inflicted on the country during his four years in office, Donald Trump is also watching as his business begins to circle the drain.

 

The Associated Press reports that Trump condos in several cities are selling for one-third of their original value, a stunning reversal of fortune for a man who built his brand and name on luxury at any price:

“An Associated Press review of more than 4,000 transactions over the past 15 years in 11 Trump-branded buildings in Chicago, Honolulu, Las Vegas and New York found prices for some condos and hotel rooms available for purchase have dropped by one-third or more.

“That’s a plunge that outpaces drops in many similar buildings, leaving units for sale in Trump buildings to be had for hundreds of thousands to up to a million dollars less than they would have gone for years ago.”

Some of the reduction in value may be attributable to the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has hit real estate hard, but the bad associations of anything carrying the Trump name aren’t helping, especially since many people recall the insurrection that took place at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 shortly after the former president urged his supporters to march on Congress:

“After Trump was accused of whipping up the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, things got really bad. Banks vowed not to lend to him, the PGA canceled a tournament at his New Jersey golf course, and New York City fired him as manager of a public course in the Bronx. Several brokers say many potential buyers won’t even look at Trump buildings now.”

In Chicago and Las Vegas, the fall in Trump property values has been even more dramatic:

“In Las Vegas, prices at Trump’s hotel have fallen 4% since he took office four years ago, while average prices for three dozen other hotels in the city that also sell condominiums and rooms rose 14%, according to data collected by Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices broker Forrest Barbee. Since the Trump building opened a dozen years ago, prices per square foot have fallen 66%.”

Ondel Hylton, senior content director at CityRealty, had this to say about what’s happening with Trump-branded properties:

“I have never seen buildings plummet so dramatically. It seems like this is a bottom.”

Donald Trump probably thought being president would be a boon to his company. But it turns out his father was right: He’s a failure, no matter what he attempts.

 

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Crime Donald Trump Donald Trump Jr. Eric Trump Ivanka Trump The Trump Organization

Federal Appeals Court Says Multimillion Dollar Fraud Suit Against The Trumps Will Proceed

An enormous class action lawsuit filed against former President Donald Trump and his three oldest children — Don Jr., Eric, and Ivanka — will move forward despite pleas from the Trumps that the case be allowed to go to arbitration.

According to Courthouse News, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the lawsuit, accuses the Trumps of running a pyramid scheme to hawk the services of American Communications Network, which allegedly ran a multilevel marketing scheme that bilked investors and never produced the financial returns it promised:

“Trump and three of his children — Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump — appeared from 2005 to 2015 in promotional television ads, at events and in magazines touting American Communications Network, a telecommunications company that offers business seminars and encourages enrollees to bring in new recruits.

“In a 2018 federal class action, four investors who said they lost hundreds or thousands of dollars investing with ACN sought damages from the then-first family and their corporate entity, the Trump Organization, saying they concealed that ACN paid them handsomely for their endorsements.”

Here’s how the scheme worked: ACN made investors pay $499 up front so they could register with the promise that they could then earn commissions by selling products at “motivational rallies.” At those rallies, family and friends were shown a DVD to encourage them to pony up money for their share of a massive payday promised in ACN’s promotional materials, many of which featured the Trumps encouraging people to pay money so the could reap the rewards, which never materialized.

In the lawsuit, investors reported they made back “less than 10%” of their initial investment.

Much like another illegal scheme, Trump University, the only people who made money in the ACN/Trump deal were the principals: ACN and the Trump family.

A class action judgement against the Trumps could put a massive dent in their bottom line at a time when the Trump Organization is reportedly hemorrhaging money and the former president is unable to lure investors to his struggling real estate business.

The Trump Organization is also under criminal indictment for engaging in tax fraud over the course of decades. Those indictments were handed down earlier this month.