The Manhattan judge who decided Donald Trump’s fate in his civil fraud trial on Monday upheld the $18 million valuation of the former president’s sprawling Mar-a-Lago estate, even as real estate experts criticized the estimate as “completely delusional.”
Judge Arthur Engoron again rejected Trump’s claims that Mar-a-Lago is worth $1 billion in favor of the much lower valuation issued by local Florida officials.
However, Engoron implored the media to stop reporting that he was the one who valued the golf club and resort at $18 million, the low end of a determination by the Palm Beach appraiser that has perplexed many connoisseurs of property. the real estate industry.
A prominent Palm Beach real estate broker called the valuation “completely delusional” to The Post.
“Please, press, stop saying I valued it at $18 million,” Engoron pleaded, as the trial began in Manhattan Supreme Court in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million lawsuit. , against the former president, the Trump Organization and his sons Eric. Trump and Donald Trump Jr.
The judge interjected as Trump attorney Alina Habba had been repeating during her opening remarks that the Palm Beach property would sell for roughly $1 billion, a figure Engoron rejected last week in an explosive ruling.
In his decision, Engoron, who decides the trial rather than a jury, cited a local Palm Beach County official as saying that the country club had been appraised in a range of between $18 million and $27 million between 2011 and 2021.
In the same decision, Engoron rejected Trump’s expert’s assessment that the Florida estate was worth $1.5 billion, calling the expert’s opinion “an inexplicable and baseless ‘dream’.”[s.]’”
Industry experts were left scratching their heads at the Palm Beach appraiser’s seemingly low estimate, saying the resort would cost more than $300 million.
Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron implored the media to stop saying he valued Mar-a-Lago at $18 million.AP
The Engoron ruling found Trump liable for fraud (the key claim in James’ suit) for overstating the value of his assets.
He sided with the attorney general and found that Trump had fraudulently inflated his net worth, including his claim that his Trump Tower triplex was 30,000 square feet when in reality it was closer to 11,000.
Engoron also revoked Trump’s business licenses in the Big Apple and said it was necessary to appoint a receiver to close his businesses in the Empire State.
Trump, 77, attended the first day of the trial at the courthouse at 60 Center St. in Lower Manhattan, prompting protesters to come out in force and block a street in front of the historic building.
Donald Trump criticized a $250 million fraud case as “a disgraceful trial” after concluding opening statements Monday. AFP via Getty Images
James also attended the trial, watching from the front row while Eric Trump, the executive vice president of Trump Org, watched from the second row.
The case is expected to last until December 27 and could see witnesses testify, including Trump, Don Jr., Eric, his daughter Ivanka Trump, former Trump organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, and former “fixer” by Trump, Michael Cohen.
In his opening statements, attorney general’s office attorney Kevin Wallace accused Trump of increasing his net worth in part out of vanity and wanting to move up the Forbes billionaires list.
The judge’s comments came as trial began in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ case accusing Trump of inflating his assets.Getty Images
An apparently damning video of Cohen’s deposition was played, in which the former Trump lawyer described how his boss ordered him and Weisselberg to inflate his worth from $6 billion to $8 billion.
“’I think I’m actually worth $8 billion,’” Cohen recalled Trump allegedly saying in the video.
Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers told Engoron during their opening statements that the attorney general’s case rests on the word of Cohen, a convicted felon.
The assessment of the resort that Engoron cited in its ruling last week came from a Palm Beach official.REUTERS
“The government is basing its evidence of conspiracy on a serial liar,” Christopher Kise charged.
Habba, meanwhile, attempted to puncture the attorney general’s argument that Trump inflated his assets to obtain better credit and banking terms, at the expense of lenders and insurers.
“These banks made money. They were not defrauded,” Habba told the court. “That is not fraud. “That’s real estate.”
Trump criticized the case before entering the courtroom at the beginning of the day and again when he left during the lunch break.
He called it a “shameful trial” during the noon break.
Additional reporting by Kyle Schnitzer
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Source: vtt.edu.vn