by Donald Trump and his co-defendants in a sprawling civil case alleging years of fraud within his real estate empire should be forced to pay more than $370m and effectively banned from doing business in New York, according to the state’s attorney. .
Several lengthy closing briefs submitted to New York County Supreme Court on Friday summarize arguments from Mr. Trump’s attorneys as well as Attorney General Letitia James’ long-running case and arguments against the former president and his key associates, who faced a 44-day trial arising from it. a blockbuster lawsuit against them.
The filings come one week before closing arguments in the case. Judge Arthur Engoron is expected to issue a decision by the end of January.
The judge’s pre-trial ruling ordered the dissolution of Mr Trump’s New York-based real estate empire, which the former president labeled a “corporate death sentence”.
That order was stayed pending an appeal and the trial was held in Lower Manhattan.
On Friday, Ms. James’ office added a number of other sanctions to her request, including “lifetime injunctions” barring Mr. Trump and former Trump Organization executives Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney from “participating in the industry real estate in New York State or from serving as a company. officer or director of any New York corporation or other necessary and appropriate legal entity.”
Evidence gathered by her office, expert witness testimony and courtroom testimony from Mr. Trump himself, as well as his adult son and co-defendants Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Jr., are “inconclusive,” according to the filing.
The evidence “establishes numerous overt acts by Weisselberg, McConney, Trump, Donald Trump Jr, and Eric Trump in furtherance of the conspiracy to falsify business records and the conspiracy to issue false financial statements,” the brief states.
Mr. James’ lawsuit accuses Mr. Trump and his co-defendants of defrauding banks and other financial institutions by inflating his net worth and assets on annual statements of financial conditions — documents at the heart of the case — in order to obtain favorable financing terms. for some of his stars. property.
Judge Engoron’s pre-trial judgment found the defendants liable for fraud, leaving a trial to determine what they are owed and whether the attorney general succeeds on six other claims against them, including insurance fraud and conspiracy.
Ms James initially sought $250m in so-called “missing gains” that Mr Trump and others received as a result of favorable financing terms.
Her new figure in the sanctions laid out on Friday stems from testimony from a star financial expert witness who claimed that Deutsche Bank, the former president’s chief executive lender, lost tens of thousands of dollars in interest that lenders should have charged if they set up the those terms. financial documents that accurately related to Mr. Trump’s net worth.
“Defendants received hundreds of millions of dollars in unexploited profits due to their illegal conduct,” according to the filing from Ms. James’ office.
“That misconduct occurred on the watch” of current Trump Organization officials, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., “perpetuated the scheme” to inflate those financial documents, the attorney general’s office said.
And “on their watch,” the company’s chief financial officer Mr. Weisselberg and controller Mr. McConney “admitted to multiple acts of tax fraud, and a jury convicted the company of that same criminal conduct.”
They were allowed to remain on the payroll and given “lucrative severance packages that limited their ability to cooperate with law enforcement investigations, rather than immediate termination of employment,” according to the attorney general’s office.
Ms. James’ office asked the judge to appoint an independent monitor “to closely oversee the company for at least the next five years” and “impose permanent statewide industry bars” against Mr. Trump, Mr. Weisselberg and Mr. McConney, with five-year bans. against Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.
A filing by an attorney for the Trump family argues that the trial failed to show that Mr. Trump and his sons had “anything more than peripheral knowledge or involvement in the creation, preparation or use” of those financial statements. allegedly fraudulent.
“Accordingly, the court should rule in favor of Donald Trump, Jr. and Eric Trump, dismissing this action against them in its entirety,” according to a filing by attorney Clifford Robert.
“It is unfortunate that Ms. James’s office has failed to prove her case and she is not entitled to any of the relief sought in this action,” the defendants’ lawyers argued.
Any errors in accounting occur “all the time” and, unless they indicate fraud such as “concealment, forgery, or deception, there is no basis for determining [statements of financial condition] fraudulent, and any misstatements are merely accidental errors,” attorneys wrote.
Attorneys will return to Judge Engoron’s courtroom on January 11 to deliver closing arguments in the case, which Mr. Trump’s attorneys have repeatedly tried to throw out entirely.
The case is among several legal challenges facing Mr. Trump as he seeks the Republican nomination for president, and one that focuses on the narrative of his financial success that built his political persona in the first place.
Mr. Trump, who is under no obligation to attend any of the proceedings, sat with his attorneys for several days of the trial. He also used the news cameras posted outside the court doors to rant against the case, his political opponents, the judge, the attorney general, witnesses and court staff.
Judge Engoron issued two gag orders in the case after Mr. Trump and his attorneys targeted his chief clerk, and a state appeals court upheld the orders after the lower Manhattan courthouse was flooded with death threats.
