Trump fraud: judge exaggerated the value of assets

Donald Trump and his sons Eric and Don Jr. committed fraud for years by inflating the value of the Trump Organization's real estate and financial assets, Judge Arthur Engoron of New York ruled Tuesday. Judge Engoron's ruling was a setback for the former president ahead of a civil trial scheduled for Monday and a partial victory for New York State Attorney General Letitia James.

James accuses Trump, his two eldest sons and other Trump Organization executives of lying to tax authorities, creditors and insurers over the years as part of a scheme that regularly exaggerated the value of their properties. Trump's lawyers asked the judge to dismiss the case before the trial began, issuing a preliminary ruling in his favor known as a summary judgment. James also asked for a preliminary ruling that Trump be found liable before the court, and the judge upheld the attorney general.

In addition to finding Trump and his sons guilty of fraud, the judge also revoked the business licenses that allowed the Trump Organization to operate some of their New York properties. James is demanding a $250 million fine and the removal of Trump and his sons from running the Trump Organization family empire.

James alleges that Trump and his co-conspirators submitted "grossly inflated" figures to banks and insurers each year from 2011 through 2021 "to obtain and maintain loans and insurance on more favorable terms." According to them, they fraudulently overvalued Trump Company assets by billions of dollars, resulting in "hundreds of millions of dollars in illegally obtained profits. "

James claims the overvaluation of Trump's assets ranged from $1.9 billion to $3.6 billion a year.

A among the properties inflated with false figures ranging from $114 million to $207 million was Trump's apartment in Trump Tower in Manhattan, which was listed at 30,000 square feet when it is actually 10,996 square feet. "A variance of this order, made by a real estate developer in valuing his own living space over decades, can only be considered fraud," the judge said.

Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election, called the case a "witch hunt" and called James, who is a Democrat and African-American, a "racist." In January, the Trump Organization was fined $1.6 million by a New York judge in a tax and financial fraud case. The 77-year-old Trump, twice impeached, also faces federal criminal charges of mishandling classified documents and conspiracy to subvert the 2020 election results. He is also accused in New York of allegedly paying hush money to a porn actress and in Georgia of pressuring officials to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election in the southern state. In May, Trump was also found liable in a civil lawsuit for sexually assaulting a magazine columnist in 1996 and for defaming her in remarks made last year.