A New York judge on Tuesday found Donald Trump and two of his children, Donald Jr and Eric Trump, liable for repeated financial fraud in the 2010s in the valuation of Trump Organization assets, even before the civil trial in the case opened on Monday.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who filed the lawsuit, is seeking, among other things, $250 million in financial reparations and bans on running companies for the former president and those close to him.
In his ruling, Judge Arthur Engoron said that Donald Trump, who dreams of winning back the White House in 2024, and his two children, executive vice-presidents of the Trump Organization, were “responsible” for “repeated violations” of the law.
He added that documents submitted by the attorney general “clearly” showed “fraudulent valuations” by Donald Trump for assets of the group, a string of businesses ranging from residential real estate to luxury hotels and golf clubs.
The New York state attorney general is accusing the Republican billionaire and his children of “inflating” these assets by billions of dollars in order, among other things, to obtain more advantageous loans from banks from 2011 to 2021.
Donald Trump denies having done anything wrong and has described this case, like the many others pending against him, as a “politically motivated witch hunt.”
The Trump Organization has already been fined $1.6 billion in the past for tax fraud. Its chief financial officer was sentenced to five months in prison for his role in that case, in which the former president was not personally responsible.
