The civil suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court seeks at least $250 million in damages, to permanently bar Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump from serving as company officers in New York and to permanently bar the Trump companies named in suit from doing business in the state of New York. James also said she has turned over evidence obtained during a three-year investigation to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, as well as the Internal Revenue Service, saying she believes her political investigation found violations of federal criminal laws. “Trump has falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars,” James said at a news conference. James said that Trump massively overstated the values of his assets to obtain more favorable loan and insurance terms for his company, as well as to reduce its tax liabilities. “The number of grossly inflated property values is staggering, affecting most if not all real estate holdings in any given year,” the lawsuit states. “All told, Mr. Trump, the Trump Organization and the other defendants, as part of a repeated pattern and common scheme, derived more than 200 false and misleading asset valuations contained in the 11 returns covering 2011 to 2021.” Former US President Donald Trump speaks in support of candidates Doug Mastriano and Mehmet Oz during a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, September 3, 2022. Andrew Kelly | Reuters The complaint states that Trump’s personal financial statements “for the period 2011 through 2021 were fraudulent and misleading in both their composition and presentation.” James said Trump had falsely claimed his Manhattan apartment was more than three times its actual size as part of the fraud. And the lawsuit says Trump appraised the Mar-a-Lago club property in Palm Beach, Fla., under the false assumption that it was on unencumbered property and could be developed for residential use, even though he allegedly knew the property was subject to destruction. strict restrictions. Mar-a-Lago “generated less than $25 million in annual revenue,” the suit says. “It should have been valued at about $75 million, but it was valued at $739 million. Trump has long criticized James for investigating his business, saying the Democratic attorney general was motivated by political animosity against a Republican former president. Trump’s attorney, Alina Haba, said in a statement Wednesday: “Today’s filing is focused neither on the facts nor the law — rather, it is focused solely on advancing the Attorney General’s political agenda.” “It is abundantly clear that the Attorney General’s Office has exceeded its statutory authority by investigating transactions where absolutely no wrongdoing has occurred,” Hamba said. “We are confident that our judicial system will not tolerate this unchecked abuse of power, and we look forward to defending our client against each of the Attorney General’s baseless claims.” James’ office interviewed more than 65 witnesses and reviewed millions of documents that are part of the investigation, the lawsuit said. The Manhattan district attorney’s office has been conducting a criminal investigation into Trump and his company that in many ways mirrors James’ political investigation. But the DA’s office has not filed any criminal charges to date, and as of the beginning of this year it seems unlikely that they will. Read the lawsuit against Trump and others here. This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
