NYC court orders Trump & co. must comply with investigations into their finances.
An ongoing NYC investigation reports numerous “misleading statements and omissions” in tax submissions by the Trump organisation.
NYC investigation’s Efforts to depose Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump are underway.
Trump is to be seen at NRA event post-Uvalde Massacre.
New York City: Attorney General Leticia James launched an investigation into Trump family finances in mid-2021. The investigations found several instances of misrepresented financial figures to obtain loans. Some of these loans pertain to Deutsche Bank, a prominent lender on Wall Street.
Third-party auditors, on the other hand, claimed that the firm had not audited, reviewed or given assurances of the financial documents provided to them. The firm held Donald J Trump as the sole accountable individual for the documents.
Up to 15 felony counts were placed against individuals associated with the charges. Trump organisation then swiftly removed longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg from over 40 subsidiaries which listed him as director. Weisselberg reportedly invoked his 5th amendment right to stay silent over 500 times in his testimony. This comes after a similar act by Eric Trump in his testimony.
The Investigations:
The Trump Organisation is a group of 250+ entities under the Trump name. Since taking over from his father Fred in 1971, Donald Trump has amassed many lawsuits regarding business practices.
Trump University:
One of these lawsuits saw Donald Trump and his associates deposed amid his campaign for President. Firstly, The lawsuit pertained to fraud allegations on Trump University, a short-lived real estate training programme. The Trump University later faced accusations for never actually providing degrees or college class credits. Multiple students who enrolled from 2005 to 2010 filed suits against the organisation. Trump University shut down after a defunct notice in 2011.
Manhattan DA:
A 2018 New York Times exposé included a detailed analysis of the Trump Family finances. The report described alleged tax fraud of at least $500 million on inheritance from Fred Trump.
The first investigation, initiated by Manhattan’s District Attorney (DA) found many discrepancies in documents from 2011 to 2015. The company listed Properties in and around New York as far more valuable to potential lenders than to tax officials. In one case, investigations revealed a discrepancy of over USD 500 Million.
New York State AG:
The second probe is a civil investigation into the alleged inaccuracy of financial statements released by Donald Trump. In May of 2021, the NYC AG announced an investigation of a civil capacity. In June, prosecutors charged the organisation with 10 counts of varying financial frauds. Notably, An official press release called it a “15-year ‘scheme to defraud the government”. The counts included conspiracy and falsifying business records.
Post presidency, Trump’s donation emails sent to millions of his followers cited the money would go towards legal funds to overturn the election. These emails were, however, misleading as the money donated reportedly went to Trump’s legal defence funds.
The Republican National Committee also agreed to pay 1.6 million USD of legal expenses to the legal expenses.
The Trump Children:
The depositions would include questioning multiple Trump associates including Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Kushner Trump.
Donald Trump Jr overlooked several appraisal opportunities for Trump properties. Trump Jr, however, denies any wrongdoing on his part thus far. Recently, Trump Jr appears as a political commentator on right-wing media outlets.
Ivanka Trump Kushner, apart from being executive vice president of the Trump organisation, also worked as a liaison to Deutsche bank. During her father’s tenure as President, Ivanka served as an advisor and Director of the Office of Economic Initiatives and Entrepreneurship. During her time as a presidential aide, she drew ethical concerns over conflicts of interest. Most notably, she gained access to classified material without the restrictions any federal employee would possess.
The former president’s legal team filed to be kept out of depositions due to Leticia James’s position as a democrat. A court ruled to quash that claim last week.
The NYC courts announced to the Trump family, a deadline of 14 days from Thursday to sit for the depositions. A CNN report says “The decision is a setback for the Trumps who have sought to avoid testimony in the attorney general’s investigation. Attorneys for James’ office previously said the investigation is nearly finished and civil enforcement action may follow.
