Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York in a $250 million civil lawsuit that could alter the personal fortune and real estate empire that helped propel Trump to the White House.
Trump, his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. , as well as other top executives of the Trump Organization, are accused through New York Attorney General Letitia James of participating in a decade-long scheme in which they used “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” to inflate Trump’s net worth for more favorable loan terms. The lawsuit comes after the judgment in the case was based on a partial abstract ruling that Trump had submitted “fraudulent valuations” of his assets, leaving the trial to what follows moves and what punishment, if any, the defendants deserve to receive.
The former president has denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyers have argued that Trump’s allegedly inflated valuations were a product of his skills.
Judge Engoron again denied a request from the defense to subpoena the Trump Organization’s independent monitor for testimony.
Twice this week, Trump’s attorneys unsuccessfully sought to call to the stand former judge Barbara Jones, the monitor appointed by Engoron to oversee the Trump Organization’s finances after the New York attorney general accused the firm of fraud.
Trump’s lawyer, Chris Kise, was tried for the third time on Friday.
“We have the right to have Judge Jones here to answer those questions about any ambiguity that may exist in her briefs,” Kise said.
Prosecutor Andrew Amer opposed the request and raised Jones’ immunity as a bailiff.
“Your request for a subpoena from Judge Jones has been denied,” Engoron said, describing the request as a “dangerous violation of the immunity of the courts. “
In his most recent report published this week on Engoron, Jones said the Trump Organization is “compliant” but is under “increased scrutiny. “
The court then adjourned the session the day after Engoron’s decision.
Judge Engoron denied two motions by the New York attorney general that would have precluded testimony from two experts on the value of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property.
In his pre-trial ruling, Engoron ruled that Trump inflated the price of the beachfront assets by 2,300% by valuing it at at least $426 million, while a tax assessor had set its price at $27. 6 million.
Trump and his lawyers have continually criticized Engoron’s conclusions, arguing that he misunderstood the purpose of a tax assessment, and planned to call two experts on Trump’s asset pricing: John Shubin to testify about the deed that, according to the state, limits ownership of the estates because it restricts the use of the assets to a club, and Lawrence Moens, one of Palm Beach’s most productive real estate agents.
State’s Attorney Kevin Wallace argued that Shubin would be offering an unauthorized legal recommendation and that Moens could simply be offering a traceable procedure for valuing the property.
“It’s incredibly different than a doctor [explaining] how they perform surgery. It provides valuation advice,” Wallace said of Moens’ testimony.
Engoron denied the state’s motions, allowing them both to testify — but said he would enforce objections if they overstep their areas of expertise.
Defense expert Robert Unell said Judge Engoron and Deutsche Bank had reached conclusions about Trump’s true net worth, but Deutsche Bank officials were not bothered by his determination.
In his partial summary judgment ruling before the trial, Engoron found that the New York attorney general provided “conclusive evidence” that Trump inflated his assets between $812 million and $2.2 billion.
“Even in the world of high finance, this Court cannot endorse a proposition that finds a misstatement of at least $812 million dollars to be ‘immaterial,'” Engoron wrote.
Similarly, Deutsche Bank’s valuation services group underestimated Trump’s net worth by about $2. 4 billion when comparing his currency position in 2013. Despite this, the bank still lent Trump millions for 3 of his properties.
“It would not be unusual,” Unell said about the discrepancy identified by the bank.
Engoron interrupted him before he could answer whether the discrepancy was within the “rank adjustment we decided in court. “
“I can do the math,” Engoron said.
The defense real estate expert rejected the state’s claim that Donald Trump used fraudulent means to obtain favorable lending rates through Deutsche Bank’s personal wealth control division.
Defense expert Robert Unell said Trump was “clearly qualified” to make advertising loans through the bank’s personal wealth control group.
U. S. Attorney Kevin Wallace had argued that Trump “lied to the personal wealth control organization to discharge those loans,” which would warrant an increase in the fine in the case.
However, Unell said, “I have not noticed or heard any evidence that President Trump is not qualified to be a member of the personal wealth control group. “
Deutsche Bank CEO Dave Williams, whose testimony Unell reviewed before speaking, previously said Trump easily met the bank’s $100 million net requirement for high-net-worth individuals.
Wallace, however, gave the impression of arguing that Trump would have been disqualified from the personal wealth department for filing allegedly false monetary statements, rather than for failing to meet a net worth requirement.