New York State Attorney Launches Investigation Against Trump And Trump Organization

The company of the current president of America is suspected of manipulating the value of assets to evade taxes and obtain economic benefits. This is reported by the edition Reuters.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James has launched an investigation against US President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization over suspicions of asset manipulation to secure loans and obtain economic and tax breaks.

The prosecutor also said that Trump's son, Eric, refused to cooperate. On Monday, August 24, James filed a motion in New York State Court for the Trump Organization and Trump's son Eric to submit to her subpoenas.

Lawyers from the attorney general's office said the subpoenas were issued as part of "an ongoing confidential civil investigation into possible fraud or illegal conduct."

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Alan Garten, chief attorney for the Trump Organization, of which Eric Trump is executive vice president, said the company was trying to work with the New York state attorney general. “The Trump Organization has done nothing wrong,” Garten said. "The continued harassment of the company by NYAG as the election approaches (and the filing of this petition on the first day of the GOP convention) once again confirms that this investigation is only about politics."

James said she began her investigation after Donald Trump's former personal lawyer and aide, Michael Cohen, said at a Congressional hearing that the president's financial statements overvalued certain assets, saving on loans and insurance, while while the value of other assets has been understated, which has reduced property taxes.

She also said that Eric Trump was "closely involved" in one or more of the transactions in question and had no "plausible reason" to refuse to testify under the subpoena.

Currently, four properties are being checked. Particular attention is paid to the 85,8 hectares of land in northern Westchester County, north of New York, called the Seven Springs Estate.

James is reviewing a $ 21,1 million tax deduction for Seven Springs for 2015 from a donation of a "conservation easement" after Donald Trump failed to build a golf course or apartment building on the site for two decades.

Other properties being tested include the 40 Wall Street building in downtown Manhattan, Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles, and the Trump Tower International Hotel and Chicago.

It is noteworthy that the latter building was excluded from the incumbent's 2009 Statement of Financial Position.

According to the prosecutor general, a "significant amount" of material was collected for further investigation, but the situation with others is in a stalemate. James stated that for several months the Trump Organization obstructed "evidence gathering and an investigation into her financial affairs." “They detained, withheld documents and instructed witnesses, including Eric Trump, to refuse to answer questions under oath,” the attorney general added.

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In a separate trial, Donald Trump fought for a year to prevent Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance from accessing tax returns for the past eight years as part of a criminal investigation.

A federal appeals court will hear Trump's arguments on September 1, after a judge refused to invalidate Vance's subpoena. The US Supreme Court ruled last month that Trump has no immunity from Vance's indictment.

Recall that at the end of 2019, the Federal New York court fined the President of the United States Donald Trump for $ 2 million for using his own charitable foundation for political purposes.