New York Attorney General Alleges Donald Trump Inflated Net Worth by $2.2 Billion in Civil Fraud Lawsuit

Former President Donald Trump and his adult sons are facing a civil fraud lawsuit filed by the New York attorney general’s office, which alleges that Trump inflated his net worth by as much as $2.2 billion in one year. The attorney general’s office claims that Trump’s financial statements contained misvaluations, and when corrected, it reduced his net worth by 17-39% each year. The $2.2 billion disparity came in 2014, according to the state. New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, made these new allegations public in a partial summary judgment motion. The attorney general’s office argues that the documents leave no doubt that Trump’s financial statements did not accurately reflect the true value of his assets. They are asking the judge to find that Trump and others made false or misleading financial statements from 2011 to 2021, benefiting from inflated assets to obtain favorable loan terms and insurance rates. Trump’s lawyers have responded by filing a motion to dismiss the case, claiming that the financial statements were not misleading and that no parties were harmed. They argue that there was no intent to defraud lenders or insurers and that the statements contained disclaimers explaining that they were unaudited and deviated from Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. Trump’s lawyers also cited deposition testimony from a former executive at Deutsche Bank, which has loaned the Trump Organization hundreds of millions of dollars, stating that Trump did not submit materially misleading statements to the lender. The lawsuit is set to go to trial in October and could last as long as six weeks. The attorney general’s office is seeking $250 million in damages and wants to permanently bar Trump and his sons from serving as officers or directors of any business registered in New York state. They also seek to block them from engaging in any new real estate transactions for five years.