New York Attorney General Tries to Shake Down Donald Trump and His Businesses for $370 Million
Jose Nino
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New York Attorney General Letitia James has pressured a judge to compel Donald Trump and his businesses to pay $370 million for allegedly inflating the value of his real estate empire by billions of dollars over the course of a decade in order to obtain favorable loans. This is a marked increase from the $250 million that James previously demanded.
The request from James comes at the conclusion of a 44-day trial in Manhattan, which Trump often attended.
Trump and his co-defendants “reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains through their unlawful conduct” James’s lawyers wrote in a closing brief that was submitted on January 5, 2024 detailing how properties from Mar-a-Lago and Park Avenue to Aberdeen were overvalued in an effort to obtain illegal loans from Deutsche Bank and others.
They stated that the $370 million demand represented the total of the interest the Trump businesses saved on four commercial real estate loans, the sale of a hotel, and golf course, and the bonuses paid out to the former president’s underlings at the Trump Organization, which includes Allen Weisselberg.
In a closing brief they crafted, Trump’s legal counsel emphasized that “if President Trump’s brand value is accounted for, President Trump is worth far more than is reflected on the [statements of financial condition].”
They continued by noting that there had been “no losses to any party, as the loans here were negotiated between very sophisticated parties, and all contractual obligations were paid”.
Judge Arthur Engoron reached the conclusion right before the end of the trial that the former president engaged in fraud. The trial was carried out without a jury and will be ultimately decided by the judge. The trial was also going to determine whether Trump and his businesses falsified business records and committed other illegal financial acts.
On top of a disgorgement, James’s office has called on the court to enact a lifetime prohibition on Trump working in the real estate sector in New York or acting in the capacity of an officer or director of a business in the Empire State. It is looking to obtain similar five-year bans for his sons Donald Jr and Eric.
Trump is clearly on the receiving end of a systematic persecution campaign orchestrated by the US ruling class. America is rapidly beginning to abandon many of its political norms that made it one of the most stable polities in world history.
America is entering uncharted territory now and what is in store for it should freak out anyone who believes in the rule of law and constitutional principles.
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