– Trump sons try to unite in court
Donald Trump’s family clan was to be held accountable in court on Thursday for questions of tax fraud.
Published: 02.11.2023, 7:57 p.m.
Eric Trump, 39, was in court this Thursday.
AFP
Donald Trump Jr, then Eric Trump, the two sons of Donald Trump prosecuted with him in the civil trial for vast financial frauds which threaten the family empire, tried to unite Thursday in the New York court, despite a barrage of questions of the prosecution and the documents implicating them in the case.
One after the other, the eldest Donald Jr, 45 years old, then the youngest Eric, 39 years old, two brothers with similar looks, chic suits and ties, hair carefully combed back and trimmed beard, adopted a line of identical defense: they did not take care of the financial declarations at the center of the trial, a task left to accountants, they assure.
It is from these annual financial statements of Donald Trump, sort of photographs of his fortune listing his properties – such as the Trump Tower in Manhattan – that the New York State Attorney General’s Office accuses the father and the two brothers for inflating the value of the group’s assets in the 2010s.
Fraudulent maneuvers amounting to billions of dollars, intended to obtain more favorable loans from banks and better insurance conditions, according to the accusation. Of the two brothers, executive vice presidents of the Trump Organization, who took charge when the father entered the White House in 2017, Eric appeared the most in difficulty in court.
Emails
From the outset, he assured that he had “not worked” on the annual financial statements. But the representative of the general prosecutor’s office, Andrew Amer, showed him a long series of emails, displayed on the court screen, seeming to attest to the contrary.
On August 23, 2013, an executive from the group spoke to him about “notes” for “Donald Trump’s annual financial statement”, on April 22, 2015, it was Allen Weisselberg, the financial director of the Trump Organization, who gives him the idea of repaying a loan “after June 30” to keep as much liquidity as possible on the annual financial statement.
Under the fire of questions, during a tight interrogation lasting several hours, Eric Trump sometimes lost his patience, and his voice, until now cordial, rose: “we are a huge group in real estate, of course that there are financial declarations,” he says. But he tried to maintain his position: “I don’t focus on the numbers. I build projects.” “I trusted the accountants,” Donald Trump Jr also repeated a little earlier.
«Forbes»
Donald Trump Jr was also confronted with an email from a journalist from the financial magazine Forbes dated March 3, 2017, containing a long series of questions about Donald Trump’s fortune and calling into question the true size of his triplex in Trump Tower. “It’s crazy what’s in there,” Donald Trump Jr. said in another email when he learned of Forbes’ questions.
In court, he does not remember the episode well. Has he undertaken any audits? “I don’t know if I did.” Donald Trump’s triplex is one of the examples cited by the prosecution, because its value would have been declared on the basis of a surface area almost three times greater than reality (2700 square meters compared to 1000), which would have made it possible to valued at 327 million dollars (296 million francs).
Since Wednesday, the court has witnessed a parade of the family clan. After Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, whose hearing continues on Friday, it should be the turn, on Monday, of Donald Trump himself. While he does not face prison time in the civil trial, the case could cause him to lose control of part of his real estate empire, in addition to a $250 million fine and a ban from managing companies in New York.
AFP
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2023-11-02 18:57:37
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