In a newly filed court document, State Attorney General Letitia James accused the Trump Organization of using “fraudulent or misleading asset valuations” to boost prices for some of its real-estate holdings, citing evidence discovered by her office.
The attorney general’s office filed the memorandum in support of its request for testimony from former president Donald Trump and his children, as part of its civil investigation into the financial dealings of the Trump Organization. James’s office has been looking into allegations that the company inflated the value of its assets in order to receive loans, only to later devalue them to avoid higher taxes.
One new claim made by the attorney general’s office is that the Trump Organization “overstated the value of land donations made in New York and California on paperwork submitted to the IRS to justify several million dollars in tax deductions” as reported by the AP. James’s office also claims that the Trump Organization inflated the value of several Trump-associated properties such as the former president’s penthouse apartment in Trump Tower and his golf clubs in New York and Scotland.
In the court motion, James writes that, though her office has not decided whether these new findings merit their own lawsuit, it’s a “virtual certainty” that the Trumps have information related to the allegations and that their testimony should be compelled by the courts. James is reportedly seeking the testimony of Trump’s eldest children, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump.
The Trump family has attempted to challenge the subpoenas filed against it. In December, Donald Trump sued James in her official capacity, claiming that her office is violating his constitutional rights with its investigation.
In a statement, James said that the Trump Organization has attempted to thwart her office’s investigation for more than two years.
“The Trumps must comply with our lawful subpoenas for documents and testimony because no one in this country can pick and choose if and how the law applies to them. We will not be deterred in our efforts to continue this investigation and ensure that no one is above the law,” she said.
