Former President Donald Trump’s trial for a $250 million civil lawsuit in New York has taken a new turn. The New York Attorney General Letitia James accused Trump and others of engaging in a decade-long scheme. James said they engaged in “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” to inflate Trump’s net worth.
Consequently, Trump and his associates are on trial in New York for exaggerating the value of their real estate to secure loans and insurance. Judge Arthur Engoron has already found them liable for fraud, meaning the trial is primarily to determine damages. The trial comes after the judge ruled that Trump submitted “fraudulent valuations” for his assets.
However, the former president has denied all wrongdoing. Also, his attorneys have argued that Trump’s alleged inflated valuations were a product of his business skills. According to reports, Trump also names several other unusual assets.
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These include $100,000 in physical gold bars and $2.8 million in Ethereum cryptocurrency. In addition, he has trademarks in Iran, Ukraine, Turkey, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and South Korea.
Consequently, James’ lawsuit seeks to bar Trump from doing business in New York because he has fraudulently misstated his assets. According to reports, two sets of Trump’s 2023 financial disclosures show vastly different valuations for many entities. The first disclosure, filed in April, was Trump’s required filing as a presidential candidate.
The second one, in July, revised the statements made by the first, said Mattathias Schwartz. In a filing with the Office of Government Ethics, Trump claimed that the TAG Air is worth $1,001 or less. However, in a revised July filing, Trump valued TAG Air at between $5 million and $25 million.
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An expert witness called by Donald Trump’s defense lawyers made a shocking claim. He testified that real estate valuations presented by the Trump Organization were not “proper” or “reasonable.” Under cross-examination, the prosecutor asked real estate expert Frederick Chin about property values claimed by the Trump Organization.
“Was the Seven Springs valuation proper?” a New York District Attorney’s Office prosecutor asked. “No, “Chin admitted. “I would use potentially different methods,” he said, according to Courthouse News correspondent Erik Uebelacker.
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Donald Trump’s “genius factor” could have added billions of dollars to the actual value of his property portfolio, Chin said. In addition, he said Trump was using the “as if” investment value to put a price on his holdings. He added that the former president is not using the “as is” market value.
According to Chin, the “as if” value allows developers to consider plans for the property when setting its value. In addition, he gave an example of a vacant lot in New York with a market value of $500 million. He said the property could cost $2 billion to a developer who wants to build a hotel there.
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