- NY AG
Letitia James requested a court order to compel Trump and his children to testify under oath. - Her office is investigating whether the Trump Org. inflated asset values for economic benefit.
The New York attorney general is taking legal action to force former President
Letitia James' office has been investigating whether Trump and the Trump Organization had been historically inflating the value of properties to secure economic benefits since March 2019.
In a Tuesday statement, James' office said it asked for a court order to compel Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump to testify under oath.
James' office said evidence from financial disclosures suggested that Trump and his organization "used fraudulent or misleading asset valuations to obtain a host of economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage, and tax deductions."
Her office also listed six properties which it said Trump had valued misleadingly, which can be seen below.
In a statement to Insider, the Trump Organization said James was "the only one misleading the public" and that she had "no case." Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington tweeted the same statement on Wednesday. The longer version can be seen at the bottom of this story
1. Seven Springs — Bedford, NY
The Trump Organization bought the Seven Springs mansion and 212-acre estate in 1995, and increased its value in the ensuing years, James' office said.
The firm valued the property at $80 million in 2004, $200 million in 2007, and $291 million in 2012, the statement said.
The 2012 valuation was based on the assumption that nine luxury homes were to be built on the estate and make the company $161 million in profits, the office said.
However, two professional appraisers later said the Trump Organization was developing the lots at a fraction of the cost cited by the firm, James' office said. The property was therefore valued at $56 million in March 2016, the office said.
Despite this, the Trump Organization's financial statements were altered to disguise the fact that the property had dropped 80% in value, James' office said.
The company did this by "moving the property to a catch-all category [in financial filings] where no asset was itemized," it added.
2. Trump Tower Triplex — Manhattan, NY
Trump's triplex apartment in New York City's Trump Tower was also placed in that catch-all category, James' office said.
In 2012, the Trump Organization said that apartment was worth $127 million based on the premise that it was 30,000-square-feet large, James' office said. Trump's 2015 and 2016 financial statement also valued the apartment as $327 million based on that size, the office said.
However, the apartment in fact measures 10,996 square feet, James' office said.
Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg also told investigators that the value of the apartment was overstated by around $200 million, James' office said.
3. Trump International Golf Club — Scotland
The Trump Organization bought what is now the Trump International Golf Club in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 2006 for $13 million, James' office said.
In 2011 financial disclosures, Trump said the property was worth £75 million ($161 million at the time) but the valuation was not professionally established, James' office said.
"This valuation appears to have been based on an email prepared to provide information to Forbes magazine for a quote and was not professionally determined," the office said.
The Trump Organization also valued the property at $436 million in 2014, based on the assumption that it had the right to build "2,500 luxury homes" on the property.
In reality, it only had approval to build "fewer than 1,500 holiday apartments and golf villas," James' office said.
4. Trump National Golf Club — Westchester, NY
Trump bought what is now Trump National Golf Club Westchester for $8.5 million in 1996, and valued it at $69 million in 2011, James' office said.
Part of that valuation was based on the assumption that it would sell 67 memberships deposits worth $13 million.
The company said it was "getting $150,000" per membership but James said that her investigation determined that "many new members paid no deposit at all in 2011."
5. Trump Park Avenue — Manhattan
Between 2011 and 2020, the Trump Organization valued Trump Park Avenue at between $135 million and $350 million, James' office said.
But the majority of that value was based on apartments that had never been sold, James' office said: "In 2011, the reported value of the property was $312 million with unsold residential units comprising $293 million of that value."
The Trump Organization also valued the unsold apartments higher in its financial reports than it did internally, James' office said.
The valuations "failed to account for the fact that many units were rent stabilized," James' office said.
In one case, Ivanka Trump had "an option to purchase an apartment she was renting for $8.5 million, but it was valued as high as $25 million on Trump's financial statements," the office said.
6. 40 Wall Street — Manhattan
The Trump Organization owns a leasehold at 40 Wall Street, and pays rent to the owner, James' office said.
Between 2010 and 2012, independent assessors said the value of the leasehold to the Trump Organization was between $200 million and $220 million, James' office said.
However, Trump said in financial statements that 40 Wall Street had been valued at $602 million in 2010, $525 million in 2011, $527 million in 2012, and $531 million in 2013, James' office said.
A Trump Organization spokesperson told Insider: "The only one misleading the public is Letitia James. She defrauded New Yorkers by basing her entire candidacy on a promise to get Trump at all costs without having seen a shred of evidence and in violation of every conceivable ethical rule. Three years later she is now faced with the stark reality that she has no case. So, in response to Trump suing her and filing multiple ethical complaints, and on the heels of her failed governor's race, she has no choice but to mislead the public yet again by misrepresenting the facts and ignoring her own inflammatory comments. Her allegations are baseless and will be vigorously defended."