NEWS
New York Judge Rules Trump Committed Financial Fraud
Courtesy of worldstar/Instagram
A New York judge on Tuesday ruled that former President Donald Trump and his sons committed financial fraud for a decade by overvaluing assets, and revoked the Trump Organization’s business certification in the state.
Judge Arthur Engoron granted a motion for summary judgment in a civil lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, finding Trump and his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, “to be liable as a matter of law for persistent violations” of New York state law.
The judge found that Trump repeatedly provided false financial statements that overvalued assets and his net worth in order to deceive banks and insurers to receive favorable terms. New York properties involved in the lawsuit include the tower at 40 Wall Street and the Trump family compound at Seven Springs.
Engoron found that Trump repeatedly overvalued the Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Fla., by as much as 2,300%, and lied about the size of his Trump Tower penthouse in Manhattan, tripling it and valuing it at $327 million.
“A discrepancy of this order of magnitude, by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud,” Engoron said.
In addition to canceling the business licenses for some Trump business entities, including the Trump Organization, Engoron said a receiver would be appointed to dissolve corporate entities named in the lawsuit.
“Today, a judge ruled in our favor and found that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization engaged in years of financial fraud,” James posted on X, formerly Twitter, Tuesday evening. “We look forward to presenting the rest of our case at trial.”
In response to the ruling, Trump said in a statement that “deranged” Engoron was “doing the bidding” of the “biased and corrupt” attorney general.
“Can you imagine ruling against me for having done business perfectly, and yet letting people go on a rampage on the sidewalks of New York?” Trump posted Tuesday evening on the social media platform Truth Social. “A very sad Day for the New York State System of Justice.”
Trump’s attorney Christopher Kise said that Trump and his sons will appeal the ruling.
“Never before have I seen such hatred toward one person by a judge – a coordinated effort with the Attorney General to destroy a man’s life, company and accomplishments,” Eric Trump posted on Truth Social. “We have run an exceptional company – never missing a loan payment, making banks hundreds of millions of dollars, developing some of the most iconic assets in the world. Yet today, the persecution of our family continues…”
Eric Trump also defended the valuation of Mar-a-Lago, stating that the property “is speculated to be worth over a billion making it arguably the most valuable residential property in the country.”
Legal expert Danny Karon, who is not involved in the case, reacted to the news Tuesday, calling it a “crippling position for any defendant” to be in.
“Summary judgment, meaning where the judge rules against a party before ever seeing the trial evidence, only happens when the requesting party has a dead-bang winner of a case. James requested summary judgment on liability or fault because the evidence was so overwhelmingly bad for Trump,” Karon said.
He added: “Nevermind Trump’s clamor about appealing the court’s summary judgment ruling, he’s stuck with it till after trial, where he’s already lost on account of it. He can’t undo this ruling or avoid trial but must instead go the distance if he wants an appellate court to consider it. This is a long, tiring, and expensive proposition, which is precisely what James planned.”
The case will still proceed to trial on Oct. 2. Following Tuesday’s ruling, the state will not have to prove the financial statements are fraudulent, but several other claims are still to be decided. Prosecutors are seeking $250 million in penalties.
TMX contributed to this article.
