The highly-anticipated trial in the civil lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James against Donald Trump will commence next week. However, a significant development occurred on Tuesday when a state judge ruled that Trump and his company had committed fraud. Judge Arthur Engoron declared that it was indisputable that Trump and the Trump Organization had defrauded banks and insurers for many years by significantly inflating the value of their assets. According to the AP, Engoron stated, “The documents here clearly contain fraudulent valuations that defendants used in business.” These financial statements inflated Trump’s wealth by as much as $3.6 billion, as reported by CBS.
Ergoron also ruled that James had successfully proven that Trump had exaggerated the value of properties such as his Mar-a-Lago estate and Trump Tower penthouse. The judge highlighted that Trump’s defenses, as presented in a deposition, were unsupported by both law and facts, according to Reuters. Engoron wrote, “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. 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.” The judge consequently ordered the revocation of some of Trump’s business licenses.
In addition, Engoron partially granted James’ motion for a summary judgement, which will streamline the upcoming non-jury trial scheduled for Monday. Trump’s legal team’s request for a summary judgment to dismiss some of the claims against him was rejected, as reported by the New York Times. The trial may still face a delay if an appeals court aligns with Trump in a lawsuit he has filed against Engoron this week. While Tuesday’s ruling addresses the main allegation in James’ lawsuit, six other claims remain to be resolved, according to the AP. The trial will also determine the penalties imposed on Trump, with James seeking fines up to $250 million and a ban on Trump conducting business in New York. (Read more Donald Trump stories.)
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