Trump fury as ruling prompts talk of sell-off
Donald Trump could be forced to sell off his real estate empire following a ruling that he had committed property fraud for years.
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in a civil case on Tuesday that the former president and his company had defrauded banks and insurers by inflating the value of his portfolio of skyscrapers, golf clubs and luxury hotels by up to $2.2bn. Engoron stripped Trump of control of some of his flagship New York properties in the $250m lawsuit brought by Letitia James, the state attorney-general.
“This is as bad as it gets for a civil decision,” said Evan Gotlob, a former state and federal prosecutor who practices in New York. The unusual order means the defendants “can’t do any business in New York for the foreseeable future”, he added, and could “be forced to sell the businesses”.
Donald Trump could be forced to sell off his real estate empire following a ruling that he had committed property fraud for years.
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in a civil case on Tuesday that the former president and his company had defrauded banks and insurers by inflating the value of his portfolio of skyscrapers, golf clubs and luxury hotels by up to $2.2bn. Engoron stripped Trump of control of some of his flagship New York properties in the $250m lawsuit brought by Letitia James, the state attorney-general.
“This is as bad as it gets for a civil decision,” said Evan Gotlob, a former state and federal prosecutor who practices in New York. The unusual order means the defendants “can’t do any business in New York for the foreseeable future”, he added, and could “be forced to sell the businesses”.
Trump has lashed out against the New York judge.
In a barrage of posts on his Truth Social platform, Trump attacked Engoron and James and denounced the ruling as a “scam”.
“This is a lawsuit that should never have been brought. It is a POLITICALLY MOTIVATED WITCH HUNT by a Racist Attorney General, and a Deranged, Trump Hating Judge.”
The former president, who has also been indicted for election interference at both the federal and state level, added: “It is ELECTION INTERFERENCE at a level never seen before.”
Trump insisted that his net worth was “much greater” than his financial statements suggest. This may have some truth to it, as James’s case also claims that the Trump Organisation simultaneously deflated property valuations to reduce its tax burden.
Trump added that the judgment was a partisan attack, intended to derail his campaign for the White House next year. “My civil rights have been violated,” he said, condemning the “horrible, un-American” judgement.
Engoron ruled that Trump had overvalued his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. The ruling pointed to an assessment by a Palm Beach county assessor which estimated Mar-a-Lago’s value at between $18m and $27.6m. Trump had claimed the estate was worth up to $612m.
Trump is also accused of inflating the valuation of his triplex apartment at Trump Tower by up to $207m, or around 2,300 times.
“A discrepancy of this order of magnitude, by a real estate developer sizing up his own living space of decades, can only be considered fraud,” the judge said.
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