In her civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump and some of his adult children, New York Attorney General Letitia James won a significant victory on Tuesday when a judge determined that the front-runner for the GOP had in fact been engaging in fraud for years.
In documents used to close deals and obtain financing, Judge Arthur Engoron “found that the former president and his company deceived banks, insurers, and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth,” the Associated Press said on Tuesday. The main contention in James’s lawsuit—that Trump committed fraud by inflating his assets by billions of dollars since 2011—was upheld by Engoron’s summary judgment, which held Trump accountable.
“His company and key executives repeatedly lied” about the worth of assets “on his annual financial statements, reaping rewards such as favorable loan terms and lower insurance premiums,” according to the AP’s report on Engoron’s ruling against Trump.
Engoron also “canceled the certificates of various Trump businesses, appointed a former judge as an independent monitor of the Trump Organization, and will appoint receivers to manage the canceled LLCs,” noted former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti, who added, “This is a pretty big deal.”
In addition to finding that Trump committed fraud, the judge canceled the certificates of various Trump businesses, appointed a former judge as an independent monitor of the Trump Organization, and will appoint receivers to manage the canceled LLCs.
This is a pretty big deal. https://t.co/0Z4y3lkHTK
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) September 26, 2023
“Trump inflated his net worth by as much as $2.23 billion, and by one measure as much as $3.6 billion, on annual financial statements given to banks and insurers,” reported Reuters on James’s claims.
“He claims that if the values of the property have gone up in the years since the (financial statements) were submitted, then the numbers were not inflated at that time,” Engoron wrote, adding:
He also seems to imply that the numbers cannot be inflated because he could find a ‘buyer from Saudi Arabia’ to pay any price he suggests.
James is suing the Trump Organization to prevent Trump and his grown children from conducting business in New York and to recover $250 million in fines. In June, Ivanka Trump was removed from the case.
Now, on October 2nd, the lawsuit is scheduled to proceed to a non-jury trial where Engoron will make decisions regarding the remaining accusations in James’s suit as well as the potential fine that Trump and his business may have to pay.
The post Judge Finds Trump GUILTY – Issues Massive Ruling Against Him appeared first on The Republic Brief.
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