In what is being called an “unprecedented” case of massive financial fraud, New York Attorney General Letitia James accused former president Donald Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, of inflating its net worth by over $2.2 billion in 2014 as part of a filing she made today to a court in the Empire State.
According to the filing, ABC News reports, James states, “In 2014, Trump claimed on his statements of financial condition to be holding $6.7 billion in assets — but the attorney general’s office said in Wednesday’s filing that figure overstated Trump’s actual net worth that year by more than $2.2 billion.”
James made the filing as part of asking the court to render a summary judgement totaling $250 million against Trump and his company, which is owned by him and his three oldest children, Don Jr., Eric, and Ivanka. Such a judgement would make a formal trial, which is scheduled for October, moot.
Trump has said under oath that his properties are “the Mona Lisa” of real estate.
“We have properties that make money, but you can sell for many, many times because of the quality of the property, like a Turnberry in Scotland,” Trump said, according to the transcript. “I could sell that. That’s like selling a painting. A painting on a wall that sells for $250 million and doesn’t make income. It just sits on a wall, but it sells for numbers.”
Additionally, the disgraced ex-president also bragged during a deposition, “I have — literally, I have some of the greatest pieces of property in the world and they sell — as Mar-a-Lago, some of the things I own in Europe, some of the things I own in New York, even like at Trump Towers, 57th and Fifth, it’s the best location. I have great assets.”
The facts, however, suggest otherwise, and overvaluing properties is considered financial fraud.
In 2014, Trump claimed on his statements of financial condition to be holding $6.7 billion in assets — but the attorney general’s office said in Wednesday’s filing that figure overstated Trump’s actual net worth that year by more than $2.2 billion.
Another example found in the filing from James is Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida, which he claims is worth as much as $739 million, a figure that doesn’t comport with reality, James noted.
The attorney general’s filing Wednesday said Trump valued his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate “as if it could be sold as a private single family residence for amounts ranging between $347 million to $739 million.” The filing said those figures ignored limitations placed on how the property could be developed.
During that same period, the property was assessed by Palm Beach County as having a market value based on its restricted use as a social club ranging between $18 million to $27.6 million, the filing said.
A $250 million judgement against Trump and the Trump Organization could well bankrupt the company and the former president, who so short on cash that he had to employ the services of a bail bondsman for a $200,000 bond in Fulton County, Georgia, where he’s accused of trying to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election.
James also has the option of banning Trump and his business from the state of New York, a punishment that has been dubbed the “corporate death penalty” and would allow the state to seize all of Trump Org’s assets in order to cover the costs of the alleged fraud committed against the tax authorities and New York financial institutions.
