A Manhattan judge ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump committed fraud by exaggerating the value of his wealth and canceled the former president’s business licenses in New York, potentially hampering his former company’s ability to operate in the Empire State.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron found Trump, 77, his family and his company, the Trump Organization, liable for fraud, the key claim in New York Attorney General Letitia’s sprawling lawsuit James, against the accused.
In a 35-page ruling, Engoron sided with James, who argued that Trump made several indisputably false statements in business documents to secure favorable terms with banks, including by claiming that his soaring triplex penthouse in Trump Tower was 30,000 feet squares when it was under construction. In fact, closer to 11,000 feet.
“A discrepancy of this order of magnitude, by a developer evaluating his own living space for decades, can only be considered fraud,” Engoron wrote.
The judge revoked the New York “business certificates” belonging to the Trump Organization and any other New York-based companies run by Trump or his family, while ordering that an independent third party will be tasked with “managing the dissolution of the companies.” Canceled LLCs.” “
Judge Engoron found Trump responsible for fraudulently inflating the value of his assets, including his triplex in Trump Tower.REUTERS
It means Trump could be stripped of control over some of his namesake properties, including Trump Tower in Midtown.
“The sweeping, sweeping attack on me, my family, and my supporters has now reached new, un-American depths,” Trump ranted on Truth Social Tuesday night, calling Engoron “deranged” and James a “completely biased and corrupt prosecutor.” . ‘”
“We are rapidly becoming a communist country and they have taken away my civil rights,” he continued.
“This is Democratic political law and a witch hunt on a level never seen before.”
Trump plans to appeal the decision, his lawyers said.
“Today’s outrageous decision is completely disconnected from the facts and current law,” Trump attorney Christopher Kise said in a statement. “President Trump and his family will pursue every appeal available to rectify this miscarriage of justice.”
Trump’s attempt to get the court to dismiss James’ fraud and other allegations, including by arguing that the statute of limitations had run out, was also rejected in Tuesday’s ruling.
Trump’s lawyers had argued that the claims should be time-barred. AFP via Getty Images New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office accused Trump of inflating the value of his assets by billions of dollars a year.
And the judge issued sanctions against several of Trump’s lawyers, ordering five of the former president’s lawyers to pay $7,500 each for presenting “frivolous” arguments in the case.
A bench trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 2 for Engoron to hear arguments on the lawsuit’s other claims before deciding on those allegations.
James’ office has previously claimed that the former president, the Trump Organization and Eric and Donald Trump Jr. overstated the value of their assets by as much as $3.6 billion a year.
The lawsuit aims to force Trump to repay the state millions in fines, halt Trump’s ability to run businesses in New York and prohibit him and his team from purchasing commercial properties for several years.
James, in a statement, said he looks forward to presenting the rest of his case at trial.
Trump spokeswoman Alina Habba called the ruling “fundamentally flawed at every level” and “an affront to our legal system.”
“We intend to immediately appeal this decision because President Trump and his family, like every American businessman, are entitled to their day in court,” he said in a statement.
With postal cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn