New York Attorney General Letitia James hassuedformer PresidentDonald Trump, three of his adult children —Donald Trump Jr.,Eric TrumpandIvanka Trump— and senior executives at the Trump Organization for fraud, her office announced Wednesday.
James' office said in a press release that “from 2011-2021, Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization knowingly and intentionally created more than 200 false and misleading valuations of assets on his annual Statements of Financial Condition to defraud financial institutions.”
Letitia James.Dee Delgado/Getty
In a press conference held Wednesday, James said she seeks to make Trump pay $250 million in fines, ban the family from operating any New York businesses in the future, and ban the former president and the Trump Organization from buying commercial real estate in New York for five years.
Paul Morigi/WireImage
James is also, she said, making a criminal referral to the U.S. Department of Justice.
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According to James' office, the Trump Organization financial statements in question falsely represented that company valuations were prepared in consultation with “professionals.” Instead, James' office claims that “no outside professionals were retained to prepare any of the asset valuations for the statements” and that the former president and others at the Trump Organization “routinely ignored or contradicted” any advice that did come from professionals.
The family has said the probe is baseless and the former president’s adult childrenpreviously asked a judge to quashwhat they called an “unprecedented and unconstitutional” bid for their testimony after being subpoenaed in December.
Ultimately, however, the family was required to testify under oath, with the former president, Don Jr. and Ivankaappearing in August.
Eric — Trump’s middle son, who serves as an executive vice president at Trump Organization — was subpoenaed earlier and testified in 2020.
According to reports, however, both Eric and former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg — also named in the fraud suit announced Wednesday — asserted their Fifth Amendment right when questioned.
source: people.com
