Former President Donald Trump “grossly” exaggerated his net worth on financial disclosure forms for a decade – cooking the books by $2.2 billion in one year, New York Attorney General Letitia James alleged in court papers filed Wednesday.
The new claim comes in a document in which James’ office asked a judge to rule on part of a $250 million lawsuit against the former president, his company the Trump Organization and sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. regarding “shocking” fraud allegations.
By allegedly lying on forms for a decade, Trump, 77, received better loan and insurance terms — “getting hundreds of millions of dollars in savings and ill-gotten gains,” the Manhattan Supreme Court filing said.
His net worth is actually between 17 and 39% — or $812 million to $2.2 billion — less than what he claimed on annual statements of financial condition from 2011 to 2021, the AG’s office said in court documents.
For example, Trump’s 2014 net worth was put at $5.77 billion on his disclosure form, when in reality it was $2.2 billion less — or $3.55 billion, the filing claims.
The case is set for trial in October but James’ office argued the judge could at least rule on one of the fraud claims before then.
Donald Trump allegedly exaggerated his net worth on an annual disclosure, inflating his worth by $2.2 billion in 2014, Attorney General Letitia James’ office alleged.Getty Images
To rule on one fraud claim, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron – who is overseeing the case – only needs to determine whether the statement of financial condition is misleading and whether Trump repeatedly used the form for financial transactions, the AG said.
“The answer to both questions is a resounding ‘yes’ based on a mountain of undisputed evidence,” the filing claims.
Trump’s financial disclosures do not “even remotely reflect” his true worth, the Attorney General’s office said.
James’ office made the claim in papers it filed in a $250 million fraud case against Trump, the Trump Organization and others.Getty Images
The 45th president and his team “used a variety of fraudulent schemes to massively inflate the value,” the newspaper alleged.
Trump allegedly lied about the cash he had and overvalued his real estate properties — adding value to the Trump brand and ignoring legal restrictions on development rights, the AG argued in his 2022 suit.
For example, Trump said his 40 Wall Street properties were worth $530 million in 2013 when they were valued at $220 million the year before, the AG said.
Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. also named in the lawsuit.AFP via Getty Images
He also claimed his Trump Tower triplex was 30,000 square feet when it was actually just under 11,000 square feet — putting the unit’s value at $327 million, a price no New York apartment has ever sold for, James argued in the suit.
Trump’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday.
The embattled real estate tycoon is separately facing four criminal charges in four different states — including a “hush money case by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, a Justice Department Mar-a-Lago documents case in Florida, another federal case in Washington DC for allegedly trying to throw out the 2020 election results and the Georgia case that accused him of trying to overturn the Peach State’s election results that same year.
Trump has maintained his innocence in all the cases he has faced, accusing them of being politically motivated.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
