FORMER US president Donald Trump has been accused of inflating the value of his Aberdeenshire golf resort as part of a case being brought by New York’s attorney general which alleges years of business fraud involving some of his most prized assets.
Attorney General Letitia James’s lawsuit, filed in state court in New York, is the culmination of a three-year civil investigation into Trump and the Trump Organisation.
Trump’s three eldest children, Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric Trump, were also named as defendants, along with two long-time company executives, Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney.
Announcing details of the lawsuit at a news conference, James accused Trump of “falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself, and cheat the system, thereby cheating all of us”.
The legal papers published by the Attorney General’s office list a number of assets which are alleged to have been incorrectly valued – including Trump Park Avenue, 40 Wall Street and clubs at Mar-a-Lago, Jupiter Florida and Aberdeen.
The valuation of Trump Aberdeen assumed 2,500 homes could be developed, it notes.
But it went on: “The Trump Organization had obtained zoning approval to develop less than 1,500 cottages and apartments, many of which were expressly identified as being only for short-term rental.
“The $267 million value attributed to those 2500 homes accounted for more than 80% of the total $327m valuation for Aberdeen on the 2014 Statement of Financial Condition.”
James, who is a member of the Democratic Party, is seeking to remove the Trumps from businesses engaged in the alleged fraud and wants an independent monitor appointed for no fewer than five years to oversee the Trump Organisation’s compliance, financial reporting, valuations and disclosures to lenders, insurers and tax authorities.
She is seeking to replace the current trustees of Trump’s revocable trust, which controls his business interests, with an independent trustee and to bar Trump and the Trump Organisation from entering into commercial real estate acquisitions for five years.
She is also seeking to permanently bar Trump and his three eldest children from serving as an officer or director in any New York corporation or similar business entity registered and/or licensed in New York State.
Alina Habba, a lawyer for Trump, said the lawsuit “is neither focused on the facts nor the law — rather, it is solely focused on advancing the attorney general’s political agenda”.
“It is abundantly clear that the Attorney General’s Office has exceeded its statutory authority by prying into transactions where absolutely no wrongdoing has taken place,” Habba said.
“We are confident that our judicial system will not stand for this unchecked abuse of authority, and we look forward to defending our client against each and every one of the attorney general’s meritless claims.”
