纽约司法部长莱蒂夏·詹姆斯(Letitia James)表示，她的办公室在对前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)和特朗普组织的民事调查中发现了欺诈的“重要证据”。
在一项正在进行的调查中，詹姆斯的办公室在法庭文件中称，唐纳德·j·特朗普、小唐纳德·特朗普和伊万卡·特朗普没有充分回应作为调查的一部分发出的传票。
“到目前为止，在我们的调查中，我们已经发现了重要的证据，表明唐纳德·j·特朗普和特朗普集团虚假和欺诈性地评估了多项资产，并为了经济利益向金融机构歪曲了这些价值，”詹姆斯在周二晚上的一份新闻稿中说。“特朗普夫妇必须遵守我们对文件和证词的合法传票，因为这个国家没有人可以选择法律是否适用于他们以及如何适用。”
特朗普夫妇寻求撤销传票后，周二晚间提交了强制他们作证的动议，称每个人都直接参与了一项或多项正在接受审查的交易。调查正在审查特朗普组织是否以不同方式对其持有的资产进行欺诈或误导性估值，以获得一系列经济利益，包括贷款、保险和税收减免。
曼哈顿地区检察官办公室正在进行一项平行的刑事调查，已经导致对该公司及其首席财务官的刑事指控。每个人都不认罪。
特朗普夫妇一再否认有不当行为，并抨击调查是出于政治动机。
特朗普组织律师艾伦·福特法斯在一份声明中说:“在160页的法律简报中，司法部长办公室故意未能解决詹姆斯女士一再威胁要针对特朗普家人以及她对自己刑事调查的断言——所有这些都是我们撤销传票或暂停传票的动议的实质。”“办公室未能回答他们如何在2021年7月1日进行刑事调查和起诉，詹姆斯女士与Cy Vance手挽手参加了传讯，并发布了新闻稿和脱口秀声明，但却忽视了纽约宪法大陪审团对她正在调查的人提供的保护。”
詹姆斯在一份声明中说，特朗普夫妇“使用拖延战术和诉讼，试图阻挠对其金融交易的合法调查”。
调查始于2019年3月，此前特朗普的前律师迈克尔·科恩在国会作证称，特朗普的年度财务报表夸大了特朗普的资产价值，以获得贷款和保险覆盖的有利条件，同时也压低了其他资产的价值，以减少房地产税。
根据这份文件，调查人员已经确定，每年发布的描述特朗普财务状况的“财务状况声明”以宽泛的术语描述了估值过程，与特朗普组织提交给其会计师事务所的支持数据和文件相比，这些数据和文件往往不准确或具有误导性。
例如，总检察长办公室声称，这些声明谎报了事实，如特朗普在纽约的顶层公寓的大小，并声称有证据表明特朗普组织向美国国税局提交了有关洛杉矶一个高尔夫球场和纽约威彻斯特县房地产的“虚假或误导性”估价。
'Significant evidence' of alleged fraud in Trump business investigation, NY AG says
New York Attorney General Letitia James said that her office has uncovered "significant evidence" of fraud in her civil investigation of former President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization.
The unusual statement amid an ongoing investigation came as James' office argued in court papers that Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump have not sufficiently responded to subpoenas issued as part of the investigation.
"Thus far in our investigation, we have uncovered significant evidence that suggests Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic benefit," James said in a release late Tuesday night. "The Trumps must comply with our lawful subpoenas for documents and testimony because no one in this country can pick and choose if and how the law applies to them."
The motion to compel their testimony, filed late Tuesday after the Trumps sought to quash the subpoenas, said each of the individuals was directly involved in one or more transactions under review. The investigation is reviewing whether the Trump Organization used fraudulent or misleading valuations of its holdings in different ways to obtain a host of economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage, and tax deductions.
A parallel criminal investigation is underway by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office that has already resulted in criminal charges against the company itself and its chief financial officer. Each has pleaded not guilty.
The Trumps have repeatedly denied wrongdoing and attacked the investigations as politically motivated.
"In 160 pages of legal briefing, the Attorney General’s Office deliberately fails to address Ms. James’s repeated threats to target the Trump family and her assertions about her criminal investigation – all which are the essence of our motion to quash the subpoenas or stay them," Trump Organization attorney Alan Futerfas said in a statement. "The Office fails to answer how they can be conducting a criminal investigation and indicting on July 1, 2021, the arraignment of which Ms. James attended arm in arm with Cy Vance and issued press releases and talk show statements about, and yet ignore the NY Constitutional grand jury protections provided to the very people she is investigating.”
The Trumps have “used delay tactics and litigation in an attempt to thwart a legitimate investigation into its financial dealings,” James said in a statement.
The investigation began in March 2019, after Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified before Congress that Trump’s annual financial statements inflated the values of Trump’s assets to obtain favorable terms for loans and insurance coverage, while also deflating the value of other assets to reduce real estate taxes.
According to the filing, investigators have determined that the "Statements of Financial Condition " issued annually to describe Trump's financial condition described the valuation process in broad terms and in ways which were often inaccurate or misleading when compared with the supporting data and documentation that the Trump Organization submitted to its accounting firm.
For instance, the AG's office alleges that the statements misstated facts, like the size of Trump's New York penthouse and alleges that there's evidence the Trump Organization submitted "false or misleading" valuations to the IRS pertaining to a golf course in LA and property in Westchester County, New York.
