The NYS AG looking at evidence vis-à-vis the Trump Organization and
criminal charges of fraud from
ABC News with this story headline:
“Significant evidence” of alleged fraud in Trump business investigation, NY AG says
NYS AG Letitia James said that her office has uncovered “significant
evidence of fraud” in her civil investigation of Trump and the Trump Organization.
Her unusual statement amid an ongoing investigation came as her
office argued in court papers that Donald J. Trump; Donald Trump, Jr; and
Ivanka Trump-Kushner have not sufficiently responded to subpoenas issued as
part of the investigation.
James’ release on January 11 said: “Thus far in our
investigation, we have uncovered significant evidence that suggests Donald J.
Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued multiple
assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic
benefit. The Trumps must comply with our lawful subpoenas for documents and
testimony because no one in this country can pick and choose if and how the law
applies to them.”
The motion to compel their testimony, filed late Tuesday after the Trumps sought to quash the subpoenas, said each of the individuals was directly involved in one or more transactions under review.
The
investigation is reviewing whether the Trump Organization used fraudulent or
misleading valuations of its holdings in different ways to obtain a host of
economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage, and tax deductions.
A parallel criminal
investigation is underway by the Manhattan DA with charges Trump's company and CFO with tax
fraud – both have pleaded not guilty.
The Trumps also have repeatedly denied wrongdoing and
attacked the investigations as politically motivated.
Trump Organization
attorney Alan Futerfas said: “In 160 pages of legal briefing, the Attorney
General’s Office deliberately fails to address Ms. James’s repeated threats to target
the Trump family and her assertions about her criminal investigation – all
which are the essence of our motion to quash the subpoenas or stay them. The
Office fails to answer how they can be conducting a criminal investigation and
indicting on July 1, 2021, the arraignment of which Ms. James attended arm in
arm with Cy Vance and issued press releases and talk show statements about, and
yet ignore the NY Constitutional grand jury protections provided to the very
people she is investigating.”
AG James then said in
her statement: “The Trumps have used delay tactics and litigation in an
attempt to thwart a legitimate investigation into its financial dealings.”
The investigation
began in March 2019, after Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified
before Congress in part that: “Trump’s annual financial statements inflated
the values of Trump’s assets to obtain favorable terms for loans and insurance
coverage, while also deflating the value of other assets to reduce real estate
taxes.”
According to the filing, investigators have determined that
the “Statements of Financial Condition” issued annually to describe Trump's
financial condition described the valuation process in broad terms and in ways
which were often inaccurate or misleading when compared with the supporting
data and documentation that the Trump Organization submitted to its accounting
firm.
For instance, the AG's office alleges that the statements
misstated facts, like the size of Trump's New York penthouse and alleges that
there's evidence the Trump Organization submitted “false or misleading
valuations to the IRS pertaining to a golf course in LA and property in
Westchester County, NY.”
Related
short video clip here from CNN – same subject.
My 2 Cents: Based on Trump’s
smug expression and his lawyer’s statement I conclude that to mean just like
that movie title “Catch me if you can”
FYI for “The Donald:” They
can, will, and are about to catch you. You have skated criminal justice far too long - so, now it's time you pay for your years and years
or crimes and escaping justice. Now you will and
must be held to account for one simple reason and it’s not about who you are, or were, or even about politics – it’s about simply saying to the people: “That no one not even Donald
J. Trump is above the law.”
More later I am sure on
this critical legal issue.
Thanks for stopping by.
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