New York attorney general files civil fraud lawsuit against Donald Trump

New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a civil fraud lawsuit against Donald Trump.

On Wednesday (21 September) James announced the lawsuit 'against Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, senior management and involved entities for engaging in years of financial fraud to obtain a host of economic benefits'.

“The lawsuit alleges that Donald Trump, with the help of his children Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump, and senior executives of the Trump Organization, falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to induce banks to lend money to the Trump Organization on more favorable terms than would otherwise have been available to the company, to satisfy continuing loan covenants, induce insurers to provide insurance coverage for higher limits and lower premiums, and to gain tax benefits, among other things,” the statement reads.

James alleges: “The complaint demonstrates that Donald Trump falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself and to cheat the system, thereby cheating all of us.

“He did this with the help of the other defendants.”

The New York Attorney also claimed that 'the conduct alleged in this action also violates federal criminal law, including issuing false statements to financial institutions and bank fraud'.

She added: “We are referring those criminal violations that we’ve uncovered to the United States attorney for the southern district of New York and the Internal Revenue Service.”

“We are requiring Mr Trump and the Trump Organization to disgorge the financial benefits obtained through the persistent fraudulent practices, an estimated a baseline at the minimum of $250m and to appoint an independent monitor at the Trump Organization to oversee compliance financial reporting valuations and disclosures to lenders, insurers and tax authorities for no less than five years.”

The New York Attorney says she wants to bar Trump and his organisation from 'entering any New York State commercial real estate acquisition for five years'.

She says that officials plan to ban the former POTUS from applying for loans for five years.

James concluded: “I want to be clear. White collar financial crime is not a victimless crime.”

“Claiming you have money that you do not have does not amount to the art of the deal.

“It’s the art of the steal… No one is above the law.”

A spokesperson for Donald Trump told UNILAD: "Today’s filing represents the culmination of nearly three years of persistent, targeted, unethical political harassment by the New York State Attorney General, Letitia James. While the job of the Attorney General is to protect the interests of the public, today’s filing, for the first time in the history of the Attorney General’s office, seeks to protect the interests of large, sophisticated Wall Street banks. However, not only was no bank harmed—actually, they profited handsomely – to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in interest and fees - and never once took issue with any of the loans in question – all of which are either current or have been paid off (in many cases early). 

"All the while New York continues to decline, with rising violent crime rates the likes of which have not been seen in decades. In New York City alone, overall crime is up by an alarming 30% from last year – highlighted by a 40.6% increase in grand larceny, a 37.2% increase in robbery and a 25.6% rise in burglary. Despite this disturbing trend, Attorney General James has decidedly put her own political ambitions ahead of the safety of New Yorkers, by choosing to undermine her oath and turn a blind eye to her ethical obligations by making the primary focus of her tenure as attorney general going after President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization. What an abhorrent abuse of power, waste of valuable resources and tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. 

"As we all know, today’s filing has nothing to do with the facts or the law. Instead, it is about politics, pure and simple. Indeed, targeting Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization is exactly what Attorney General James said she would do while running for office. Promising to “definitely sue him” and be “a real pain in the ass”, she recklessly exclaimed that “the days of Donald Trump are coming to an end”. Of course, at the time she made these and other statements, Letitia James had not even been elected, had no knowledge of the facts and had not a shred of evidence to support her contentions. Three years later, with election day less than 50 days away, Attorney General James, who is down in the polls, is at it again – filing this lawsuit at the eleventh hour in a desperate attempt to pander to voters. 

"An attorney general is supposed to be fair, impartial and unbiased - not weaponize their office to pursue a political vendetta or target their political opponents. Today’s filing by Attorney General James sets a dangerous precedent – not just in New York, but for our entire nation. The good people of New York should be disgusted."

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