Judge Rules Donald Trump Committed Fraud For Years While Building Real Estate Empire
By: HuffPost
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
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NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has ruled that Donald Trump committed fraud for years while building the real estate empire that catapulted him to fame and the White House.
Judge Arthur Engoron, ruling Tuesday in a civil lawsuit brought by New York's attorney general, found that the former president and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.
The decision, days before the start of a non-jury trial in Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit, is the strongest repudiation yet of Trump's carefully coiffed image as a wealthy and shrewd real estate mogul turned political powerhouse.
Beyond mere bragging about his riches, Trump, his company and key executives repeatedly lied about them on his annual financial statements, reaping rewards such as favorable loan terms and lower insurance premiums, Engoron found.
Those tactics crossed a line and violated the law, the judge said, rejecting Trump's contention that a disclaimer on the financial statements absolved him of any wrongdoing.
Manhattan prosecutors had looked into bringing a criminal case over the same conduct but declined to do so, leaving James to sue Trump and seek penalties that could disrupt his and his family's ability to do business in the state.
Engoron's ruling, in a phase of the case known as summary judgment, resolves the key claim in James' lawsuit, but six others remain.
Engoron is slated to hold a non-jury trial starting Oct. 2 before deciding on those claims and any punishments he may impose. James is seeking $250 million in penalties and a ban on Trump doing business in New York, his home state. The trial could last into December, Engoron has said.
Trump's lawyers had asked the judge to throw out the case, which he denied. They contend that James wasn't legally allowed to file the lawsuit because there isn't any evidence that the public was harmed by Trump's actions. They also argued that many of the allegations in the lawsuit were barred by the statute of limitations.
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He lost. He's a fraud. The trial will be about the penalty.
No John, that's not it works in the good old USA. Maybe you're thinking of Russian justice.
If credible evidence is there, then he should be convicted, then sentenced.
You don't seem to care much for the presumption of innocence and due process.
He wont go to jail over this , its a civil case.
He could lose his right to do business in New York state though.
This was a summary judgement. Look it up.
The judge believes Trump committed fraud if he valued Mar-a-Lago at anything more than $18 million. Since when did this "judge" become a property appraiser?
The left has corrupted the law.
Typical MAGA bullshit. If something goes against their desires, it is the product of "leftists".
The country is being destroyed, just not by the people you think it is.
When Trump whined 8 years ago that the judge in the Trump U case wouldnt be fair to him because he was a "Mexican", who knew that would lead to a near decade of trump and his crowd whining about the judicial system and casting aspersions up and down?
The left has destroyed the rule of law in less than 3 years.
The more you push this obvious malfeasance, the more people are going to vote for Donald Trump.
see
It's circle time?
Otherwise known as a surrender.
Remember John, I demand unconditional surrender.
Your hallucinations are your business.
That $500 million figure, absurd at the time that the Trump Organization proposed it, suddenly became somewhat reasonable. Real estate experts outside of Palm Beach guessed that the place was worth more than $200 million. Brokers on the island thought it could be worth far more, with the most aggressive estimate coming in at $725 million. When Forbes last valued the property in March, we went with a conservative $350 million.
How Much Has Trump Made From Mar-A-Lago, His Palm Beach Estate Under Siege? (forbes.com)
Isn't it the bank's responsibility to evaluate assets and credit scores etc?
There is only one reason a bank takes a prospective borrower's word: they want to make the loan.
20 years from now you'll still be making excuses for what Trump is doing today.
[✘]
And amazingly not one bank that i have seen has stepped up to claim harm.
20 years from now I won't be here. By then our readers will have no cars and not much money and no freedom and they'll be saying "old Vic was right."
They all knew what they were doing.
In a sane world this story in and of itself would make Trump unelectable and un nominateable.
A judge says Trump has been committing business fraud for years. And he should be president?
WTF.
That judge says Trump exaggerated self-worth to get loans. I think every loan I ever applied for in my lifetime involved me overestimating my earnings. If lenders really want to they could check into that. In most cases they simply want to make the loan.
To be filed under: the things we commonly do.
I swear I have seen this before. Who in the hell loans money OR insures without a damned appraisal? Seems to me the institutions themselves bear the brunt of this. You don't take anyone's word for what they are worth. Especially with this magnitude of money being at stake. It's called due diligence.
He was a celebrity.
WTF does that have to do with it? Trust but verify FFS
Tell it to the judge.
According to Trump, the smoke and mirrors approach to property tax evasion is just “sport”. Why can’t you just admit that he is openly committing crimes?
People have been asking that for years.
“…is just “sport”…
He cheats at golf, too.
So, it's the victims fault? Got it, good talk.
What victims? Please give me some victims!
The victims are every entity to which Trump submitted fraudulent information to help him secure real-estate funding. The false representation is the wrongdoing.
MSNBC is reporting that Trump is being barred, by the judge, from doing any future business in the state of New York, as have his sons Don Jr and Eric.
Don't know if that is true but that is the report.
Trump will probably sue the judge.
Probably, I mean, that's what that little child always does. He's got the maturity of a 10 year old.
No shit, most normal people have known this since the mid 80's.
So why hasn't he been prosecuted and imprisoned since the mid 80's?
The wheels of justice can spin slow.
Good question. What is your hypothesis? Do you think that he has done no wrong all these years? Played by the rules? Never cheated anyone? Never fudged his books?
Remember his old CPA firm?:
Better still, why did the US Attorney’s Office in SDNY walk away from this?
Excellent point.
And weirdly enough, the Feds have primary responsibility for banking regulations. seems if trump violated banking regulations they would be all over this.
I don't know or care. You seem to care, but don't really know.
Why ask a question if you do not care about the question or the answer? That is irrational.
Seems to me that you could not think of a response.
Because you cant be tried for the same crime twice. Duh.