(New York) A New York judge on Thursday imposed the appointment of an independent monitor to prevent any “further fraud” financially within the Trump Organization, in a scathing decision that supports the civil lawsuits brought by the Attorney General of the United States. State of New York against the former President of the United States.
Posted at 6:54 p.m.
In the decision, State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron approves a motion by Attorney General Letitia James. She was seeking this control as part of her civil lawsuit against Donald Trump and three of his children, whom she accuses of having overvalued or undervalued the assets of the Trump Organization to obtain more favorable loans or pay less taxes. .
This case is separate from the criminal trial which recently opened in a Manhattan court for tax evasion and which targets the Trump Organization as a legal person, its chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg having already pleaded guilty.
For Judge Engoron, “given the persistence of misrepresentations in each of Mr. Trump’s financial statements between 2011 and 2021 […]the appointment of an independent monitor is the most prudent and appropriate mechanism to ensure that there is no further fraud or illegality” under New York State law.
The magistrate adds that certain examples on which the prosecutor relies are “particularly convincing”, such as that of Donald Trump’s triplex in the Trump Tower on 5e avenue de New York, in Manhattan, referring to an “overvaluation of approximately 200 million dollars”.
As a result, Donald Trump and his children are prohibited from “selling, transferring, or otherwise disposing of any assets other than cash contained in the former President of the United States’ Financial Disclosure Statement” for the year 2021 “, without notice to the Attorney General or to the Court which judges the file, orders Judge Engoron. The appointed controller will notably be responsible for enforcing this obligation.
Before the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Letitia James claims 250 million dollars in reparations. The civil trial has not started.