On Wednesday, former president Donald Trump, three of his children, and his corporation were named in a civil fraud complaint by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The lawsuit, which spans more than 200 pages, asserts that the defendants were complicit in a massive fraud that the former president utilized to enrich himself over a ten-year period. The fraud allegedly affected many facets of the Trump corporation, including its hotels and golf courses.
A list of some of the important properties referenced in the complaint is provided below in no particular order:
1. Trump International Hotel and Tower — Las Vegas, Nevada
The lawsuit claims that between 2013 and 2021, the Trump hotel in Las Vegas, a hotel condominium in which Trump owns half, had misleading financial statements as a result of income projections based on the sale of residential units that assumed prices much higher than what units were selling for, among other factors.
2. Licensing deals
The Trump Organization engages in a lot of licensing agreements wherein the property is owned by a different entity, which pays Trump to use his name. By incorporating “speculative and non-existent arrangements” between 2015 and 2018, the lawsuit claims that Trump’s company artificially inflated the worth of its entire licensing business. These hypothetical deals included a few possible international agreements. Because the Trump Organization allegedly stopped looking for overseas agreements after Trump took office, the lawsuit claims that mentioning them in the appraisals in 2016 and 2017 was deceptive.
According to the lawsuit, the value of the license deals was increased by the incorporation of agreements between companies owned by the Trump Organization. Brothers Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump were well aware of the actual revenue earned through licensing generally, according to former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, and “licensing was generally managed by Ivanka,” the lawsuit claims.
3. Trump Park Avenue
According to the lawsuit, a 2010 evaluation put Trump Park Avenue’s value at around $72.5 million. But, according to the lawsuit, Trump’s business asserted in later financial statements that the property was valued at about $292 million. High-end apartment units, office space, and storage facilities are all part of the property next to Central Park.
4. 40 Wall Street
James also emphasized what she claims occurred with 40 Wall Street, a building in New York City’s financial center that is mentioned numerous times in the case. According to the lawsuit, Trump’s business obtained valuations for the property in 2010 and 2012, which determined that it was worth $200 million and $220 million, respectively. In contrast, the lawsuit claims that Trump’s business consistently asserted in its official financial reports that the property was worth significantly more.
5. Mar-a-Lago
According to the lawsuit filed by the New York attorney general, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida was given an assessment of “as high as $739 million based on the false premise that it was unrestricted property and could be developed and sold for residential use,” when in fact “the club generated annual revenues of less than $25 million and should have been valued at closer to $75 million,” the lawsuit reads.
6. Trump golf courses
According to the lawsuit, the Trump Organization reportedly employed a number of dishonest or improper techniques to artificially increase the value of Trump’s golf facilities. For instance, despite what the lawsuit claims are rules prohibiting such actions, the organization increased the value of several golf courses by 30% to account for a Trump “brand premium.” According to Trump, the value of the Jupiter, Florida, club he bought for $5 million in 2012 increased to $62 million in 2013.
7. Trump Old Post Office (Now: Waldorf Astoria Washington DC)
In the years before his presidential campaign, James’ complaint claims former President Donald Trump of using allegedly doctored financial documents for his and Ivanka Trump’s self-interest to establish a luxurious hotel in Washington, DC. Due to the association with the current president, it turned out to become a gathering place for his adherents and close friends.
8. Trump Tower
James claimed that Trump lied about the square footage of his triplex unit in the Trump Tower to advertise the worth as being above $300 million. “Mr. Trump claimed that his residences were larger than 30,000 square feet, which served as the foundation for assigning a value to the unit. The actual size of the flat was less than 11,000 square feet, something Mr. Trump was well aware of, James added. “The apartment was worth $327 million in 2015 and 2016 based on that inflated square footage. No New York City apartment has ever been sold for close to that much as of yet.
Source: CNN
