Donald Trump’s real estate empire has engaged in “shocking” fraudulent and deceptive business practices for more than a decade, during which the former president and his associates “seriously and fraudulently” inflated the value of his properties to obtain New York Attorney General Letitia James for taxes, loans and insurance said the incentives have simultaneously boosted his financial ambitions.
A blockbuster 222-page civil lawsuit claims Trump inflated his net worth to “defraud the banks and the great people of New York State,” Ms. James told reporters on Sept. 21.
She described multiple “statements of financial condition” prepared by his former accounting firm for nearly all of Mr. Trump’s mansions as “exaggerated, grossly exaggerated, objectively false, and therefore fraudulent and illegal.”
The lawsuit follows a three-year civil investigation into at least 23 of his properties and assets, from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to his namesake tower in Manhattan and golf courses in Scotland.
Ms. James’ office found that at least 11 of Mr. Trump’s annual financial statements contained more than 200 false and misleading asset valuations.
“The magnitude of the dramatic inflated asset value is staggering, affecting most, if not all, real estate holdings in any given year,” the lawsuit said.
The attorney general is seeking a permanent ban on Mr. Trump and his children Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump from any office in any New York business, and a ban on Mr. Trump and his businesses in New York Make any real estate transaction. state for five years and forfeited $2.5 billion in allegedly ill-gotten gains through his “ongoing” fraud.
These are the properties and assets claimed by the attorney general’s office and are at the heart of a fraudulent scheme orchestrated by Trump and his business allies.
Trump Park Avenue
According to the attorney general’s office, the property was valued in Mr. Trump’s financial statements, ranging in value from $90.9 million to $350 million from 2011 to 2021.
“The reported value of unsold residential units in the Trump Park Avenue building is significantly higher than the Trump Organization’s internal valuation used for business planning, and fails to account for the fact that many units have stabilized rents,” Ms. James’ office said.
In July 2020, the Trump Organization received an estimate of $84.5 million. But a 2020 financial statement valued the property at $135.8 million.
Trump Tower
The valuation of Trump’s eponymous tower relied on “handpicked” figures and inflated figures that were inconsistent with internal safeguards, according to Ms. James’ office. In 2015, using a different formula, the property was worth $170 million more than the previous year, nearly $250 million more than the next year, and more than any other year using the previous formula $75 million higher than used.
Trump Tower Triplex
The former president’s private three-story Manhattan apartment is valued at 30,000 square feet, but less than 11,000 square feet, according to the attorney general’s office.
In 2015, the condo was valued at a “ridiculous” $327 million, or $29,738 per square foot, according to Ms. James’ office.
“In the 30-year-old Trump Tower, record sales at the time were just $16.5 million, and prices were under $4,500 per square foot,” her office said.
40 Wall Street
According to Ms. James’ office, the property was valued at $220 million by a bank in 2012, “but in statements that year and the following year… the Wall Street 40 was valued at $527 million and $530 million, respectively — yes More than double what it was at the time. Value calculated by an independent professional appraiser.”
Seven Springs, Westchester County, New York
Mr. Trump bought the 212-acre estate in 1995 for $7.5 million, but according to claims the property was zoned for nine mansions, valued at as much as $291 million over the past decade, the mansions could Sold for more than $161 million, it was a “completely unsupported novel based on development history,” according to Ms. James’ office.
nike city new york
On “multiple occasions” from 2011 to 2019, Mr Trump provided “false and misleading representations” of the property’s value, while valuations from 2013 to 2018 (except 2015) neglected to include rent at “Key Variables” within.
Ms James’ office said: “When the rising scheduled rental charges are factored into Niketown’s 2020 and 2021 valuations, the property’s reported value has fallen from the mid-$400 million to $225 million despite increased revenue assumptions. to the $250 million range.”
Letitia James announced the lawsuit against Donald Trump on September 21.
(Getty Images)
Trump International Hotel and Tower, Las Vegas, Nevada
Prior to 2013, Mr. Trump’s 50 percent interest in the property was omitted from financial statements “because for tax purposes, Mr. Trump claimed that the property had no value,” James’ office said. At the same time, Mr. Trump “has repeatedly submitted lower real estate valuation estimates to the Nevada tax authority and has proposed higher real estate valuations in his statement.”
Vornado
Mr. Trump holds a minority stake in the company, but his financial statements typically include cash held by the entity. “In some years, these restricted funds represent almost a third of all cash reported by Mr. Trump,” Ms. James’ office said.
Mar-a-Lago
The former president’s Florida resort property is worth a whopping $739 million, but “in reality, the club’s annual revenue is less than $25 million, and it should have been valued at closer to $75 million.”
Trump’s golf clubs
Ms. James’ office outlined a number of schemes often used to allegedly inflate the value of Mr. Trump’s golf clubs.
Instead of itemizing each club, he allegedly “presented its value as a single aggregated item,” the lawsuit said.
At Trump National Golf Club Westchester, New York’s Briacliff estate, the property’s valuation depends on expected revenue from inflated membership figures, the lawsuit alleges. In 2011, it was up to new members to pay nearly $200,000 in fees, but most never did. Mr. Trump also “specifically directed” employees to “reduce or cancel” the entry fee to increase membership, according to Ms. James’ office.
Other schemes allegedly boosted the value of the former president’s clubs in North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Virginia, the lawsuit said.
Mr Trump bought his Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., Jupiter for $5 million, but a year later in 2013, the lawsuit alleges The value of the property decreased by $62 million—a 1,100% increase.
The picture shows Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on September 21.
(EPA)
The Trump Organization “falsely inflates the value of the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles,” “inflates the value of a large number of potential land parcels for sale in the area surrounding the golf course, and uses an undisclosed 30 per cent from 2013 to 2020. The penny brand premium overstates the value of golf clubs,” Ms James’ office said.
In a 2013 statement, the premium program added nearly $50 million to the golf club’s valuation, it said.
The Trump Organization also donated 16 parcels worth $25 million “through a fraudulently manipulated valuation strategy, including ignoring reports prepared by engineers to assess the cost of developing the parcels” and failure to account for the The company didn’t have to develop affordable housing there, avoiding nearly $1 million in debt.
Scottish Trump International Golf Course (Aberdeen)
The golf course was valued at $327 million in 2014, the lawsuit says, based on the Trump Organization’s claim that 2,500 homes could be developed on the property, even though the company has only obtained zoning approval to build fewer than 1,500 units. The Trump Organization’s proposed unit represents 80 percent of the company’s total valuation.
Trump International Golf Course, Scotland (Turnberry)
The stadium, which has been operating at a loss since it opened in 2017, was acquired for $60 million in 2014 and was valued between $123 million and $126.8 million in subsequent years, the lawsuit said the Trump Organization relied on “False and misleading” valuations should be valued at much lower numbers.
Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago
The property has not been included in Mr. Trump’s financial statements since 2009 because “Mr. Trump did not want to pursue an argument he made with the tax authorities that the property had become worthless, according to sworn testimony. Conflicting positions, therefore, form the basis for substantial damage under federal tax law.”
But in 2012, Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization received a $107 million building loan from Deutsche Bank. James’ office said the loan was expanded by $45 million in 2014, and “the $4 billion in net worth reflected in Mr. Trump’s statement was used to personally guarantee the initial loan at a lower, more favorable rate. loan”.
Trump National Doral, Miami, Florida
The loan agreement required for the property acquired through Deutsche Bank required Mr Trump to “certify the truth and accuracy of his statements” as a condition of the loan.
Old Trump Post Office in Washington, D.C.
The Trump Organization took a $170 million loan from Deutsche Bank to convert the property into a luxury hotel, then sold the property in 2022 for $375 million — resulting in “a net gain of more than $100 million.” The profits, which were the result of his obtaining the loan. were able to be obtained through the use of his false and misleading statements,” according to the attorney general’s office.
