The civil trial which is to begin on Monday is only the first in a long list for the former president, who will also have to appear in federal justice, accused of having tried to reverse the result of the presidential election of 2020, or before the courts of the State of Georgia for having also tried to manipulate the results of the vote lost to Joe Biden.
Assets overvalued to the tune of several billion dollars
Letitia James, equivalent of a Minister of Justice for the State and elected Democrat, had requested a civil trial against the Republican billionaire, accusing him of having inflated the value of the assets of the Trump Organization, to the tune of several billion dollars, in particular to obtain more advantageous loans from banks from 2011 to 2021.
The Trump Organization brings together a myriad of companies and ranges from residential real estate, with several skyscrapers in New York, to luxury hotels, residences or private clubs like Mar-a-Lago in Florida and golf clubs. In March 2023, the magazine Forbes estimated Donald Trump’s fortune at $2.5 billion.
In her complaint, the Attorney General cites several examples, including Donald Trump’s triplex inside the Trump Tower in New York, the value of which was allegedly declared on the basis of a surface area three times greater than reality (2700 square meters compared to 1000), which would have made it possible to value it at $327 million. “Good faith measures could vary by 10-20%, not 200%,” writes Judge Arthur Engoron. For the magistrate, a “discrepancy of this order of magnitude, on the part of a real estate developer increasing its own residential surface area for decades, can only be considered as fraud”.
“I am worth more than the numbers say”
The judge lists other examples, such as the Seven Springs property in the New York region, the Trump Park Avenue or 40 Wall Street buildings in New York or even golf courses and the Mar-a-Lago residence. Particularly scathing, the magistrate writes in his 35-page decision that the arguments in defense of the Trump camp come from a “fantasy world, not the real world”.
For Judge Engoron, Donald Trump and his two children are “responsible” for “repeated violations” of the law. On his social network Truth Social, the former American president reaffirms that he has nothing to reproach himself for and describes the judge as “hateful” towards him. “I am worth much more than what the figures say in my financial statements,” he also wrote in capital letters, ensuring that the banks have never had to complain about the loans granted.
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2023-09-26 23:03:15
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