NEW YORK: Donald Trump defended his real estate empire and his presidency in a face-to-face clash with the New York attorney general suing him for fraud, testifying at a closed-door grilling in April that his company is flush with cash \u2014 and claiming he saved \u201cmillions of lives\u201d by deterring nuclear war when he was president.<\/p>\n
Trump, in testimony made public Wednesday, said it was a \u201cterrible thing\u201d that Attorney General Letitia James was suing him over claims he made on annual financial statements about his net worth and the value of his skyscrapers, golf courses and other assets.<\/p>\n
James sued Trump last September, alleging he inflated the value of assets like his Mar-a-Lago estate for at least a decade. Her lawsuit seeks $250 million in penalties and a ban on Trump doing business in New York.<\/p>\n
In documents filed in support of civil suit, claimed that Trump and some of his associates submitted \u201cgrossly inflated\u201d numbers to banks and insurers \u201cto secure and maintain loans and insurance on more favorable terms.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said Trump routinely overvalued his net worth by billions of dollars each year between 2011 and 2021..
\nThe scheme resulted in \u201chundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten savings and profits,\u201d the documents alleged.
\nJames\u2019 lawsuit against the current Republican frontrunner in the 2024 presidential race dates back to last year, when she accused Trump, some of his children and the Trump Organization business of tax and financial fraud.
\nTrump and his children also stand accused of deflating the value of certain Trump Organization assets \u2014 including golf clubs, luxury hotels and other properties \u2014 to reduce taxes.
\nThe trial is due to start October 2, with a preliminary hearing September 22, though James, a Democrat, is seeking to have the court resolve the case before it goes to trial based on the documents submitted Wednesday.
\nThey allege Trump overstated his wealth each year between 2011 and 2021, including the years he was president, between 17 and 39 percent \u2014 amounting to $812 million and $2.2 billion each year.
\n\u201cBased on the undisputed evidence, no trial is required for the Court to determine that Defendants presented grossly and materially inflated asset values,\u201d to help them conduct \u201cbusiness transactions and defraud banks and insurers,\u201d prosecutors argued.
\nIn January, the Trump Organization was fined $1.6 million by a New York judge in a criminal tax and financial fraud case.
\nIf James\u2019 civil case against Trump goes to trial, it will be one more for the candidate to have to juggle while also zipping across the country on the campaign trail.
\nTrump is facing four criminal trials for actions allegedly taken before, during and after his presidency \u2014 state cases in New York and Georgia and two federal cases in Florida and Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK: Donald Trump defended his real estate empire and his presidency in a face-to-face clash with the New York attorney general suing him for fraud, testifying at a closed-door grilling in April that his company is flush with cash \u2014 and claiming he saved \u201cmillions of lives\u201d by deterring nuclear war when he was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352849,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-352845","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n