New York State is seeking $370 million from Donald Trump for financial fraud

The state of New York has filed a civil lawsuit for financial fraud against former President Donald Trump, his children and their real estate empire, the Trump Organization.

New disdain for Donald Trump. The state of New York, which filed a civil complaint for financial fraud against the former president, his children and their real estate empire, the Trump Organization, is now seeking $370 million in damages, according to court documents made public on Friday. 5.

That's far more than the $250 million sought by state Attorney General (the equivalent of a territorial attorney general) Letitia James in her complaint in the fall of 2022. It was her complaint that sparked the ongoing civil trial on financial charges. Fraud in the New York court where Donald Trump and his sons Donald Jr. and Eric have testified since last October.

In his immediate response to his social network, Truth Social, the Republican billionaire, who is campaigning for the presidential elections in November, once again attacked Letitia James, the African-American judge who holds the chief justice of the state of New York and the elected representative of the Democratic Party, whom he accuses of being “corrupt.” He leads a “witch hunt.”

Donald Trump reiterated on Friday: “I did nothing wrong. My financials are good and very prudent.”

“witch hunt”

With his children and the Trump Organization's family group, New York's civil judiciary accuses them of inflating the value of skyscrapers, luxury hotels or golf courses in the heart of their empire during the first decade of the 21st century, to obtain better loans from banks. And better insurance terms.

Since the trial began in Manhattan on October 2, the 77-year-old businessman has protested justice every time he comes to court, denouncing a “witch hunt” or “a trial worthy of a banana republic.”

Following the attacks on his clerk, Judge Arthur Engoron banned Donald Trump from speaking about his team and imposed two fines totaling $15,000 on him for violating the order. His lawyers denounce the existence of a legally empty file.

“Frequent scams”

Unlike the criminal trials awaiting him this year, including those related to his alleged maneuvers aimed at reversing the outcome of the November 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump is not risking prison time in this civil case. But he's playing great and things are off to a bad start.

Even before the proceedings began, Judge Engoron had estimated at the end of September that the prosecution had presented “conclusive evidence that between 2014 and 2021, the defendants overstated the assets” of the group by “812 million (to) $2.2 billion.” By year, in the numbers recorded in Donald Trump's annual financial statements.

As a result of “repeated frauds,” he ordered the liquidation of companies that managed these assets, such as the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan or the 40 Wall Street skyscraper. However, these measures were suspended by a decision of the Court of Appeal.

The trial concerns several other crimes, such as insurance fraud, and financial penalties sought by the New York State Attorney General's Office, which is now seeking $370 million and no longer the $250 million in the initial complaint.

It remains for Judge Engoron to close the proceedings this month and determine the amount of damages and compensation.