Donald Trump could be barred from doing bussiness in the city and state of New York under a new lawsuit filed by top prosecutors accusing him and his adult children of fraud.
In what would be one of the most devastating blows incurrred yet by the former president and his businessses empire during its long and twisting history, New York Attorney General Letitia James said it was clear Mr Trump and his adult children had knowingly engaged in fraudulent actcicity to mislead people about the value of his business holdings over many years.
She said she was planning to refer the case to the Manhattan District Attorney if requested, and for criminal referrals to the Southern Distcit of New York, as well as to the crminal division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
“I want to be clear: White-collar financial crime is not a victimless crime,” Ms James said Wednesday.
She said the “conduct cannot be brushed aside and dismissed as some sort of good-faith mistake”.
She added: “The statements of financial condition were greatly exaggerated, grossly inflated, objectively false, and therefore fraudulent and illegal,” she added. “And as a result of that we are seeking relief, and Mr Trump, the Trump Organization, his family – they should all be held accountable.”
In outling the details of a 200-page civil lawsuit, Ms James her team had identified more than 200 instances where he or his company made “scores of fraudulent, false, and misleading representations” over a 10-year period”.
The lawsuit specifically highlighted what it called “200 false and misleading valuations” of the foremr president’s businessess in the state. She said Mr Trump’s adult children Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump had alkso helped falsely inflated the valuation of Trump Organisation holdings.
She said she wanted those children barred from remaining as offfice holders of any business in the state, and was seeking the return of $250m she claimed their collective actions had wrongly collected.
Also named in the lawsuit were Allen Weisselberg, former CFO for the Trump Organisation, and Jeff McConney, another longtime company executive.
“These acts of fraud and misrepresentation were similar in nature, were committed by upper management at the Trump Organization as part of a common endeavor for each annual Statement, and were approved at the highest levels of the Trump Organisation — including by M Trump himself,” the lawsuit states.
Ms James is a Democrat and Mr Trump has previously insulted her as a “renegade prosecutor” who he said is running a “vindictive and self-serving fishing expedition”.
The Trump Organisation called her previously allegations “baseless” and denied any wrongdoing. On Wednesday, a statement from Trump Organisation claimed the lawsuit “represents the culmination of nearly three years of persistent, targeted, unethical political harassment” by Ms James.
“An attorney general is supposed to be fair, impartial and unbiased — not weaponize their office to pursue a political vendetta or target their political opponents. Today’s filing by Attorney General James sets a dangerous precedent – not just in New York, but for our entire nation. The good people of New York should be disgusted,” it said.
Unlike most prevoius US presdidents, Mr Trump did not establish a blind trust for his business interests when he entered the Oval Office in January 2017, and controversially said his two sons would remain in charge. The move was widely condemned at the time.
