According to legal records, an apartment leased by Ivanka Trump from the Trump Organization was granted an astronomically high public valuation but was sold to her for significantly less.
According to a plethora of legal filings by the New York attorney general, the Park Avenue property was publicly valued at $25 million, but Ivanka Trump kept an option to buy it for $8 million.
They’re part of a larger complaint accusing the Trump Organization of fraudulently manipulating the value of its assets for personal gain. Trump has claimed he will be indicted soon on these charges, but no formal plans have been announced tro do so yet.
Staff for New York Attorney General Letitia James provided what they claimed was proof of alleged value inflation in legal documents filed.
Trump Park Avenue, a premium apartment complex in Manhattan, is one of the assets mentioned in the documents.
According to the records, the Trump Organization said in financial statements from 2011 to 2020 that the property was worth between $135 million and $350 million, with unsold residential condominiums accounting for around 95% of the value.
However, evidence suggests that the genuine worth of the properties was inflated as part of a conspiracy involving multiple other Trump assets in order to acquire financial gain, according to James.
“Evidence obtained by OAG indicates both that the reported values of the unsold residential units of the Trump Park Avenue building were significantly higher than the internal valuations used by the Trump Organization for business planning and failed to account for the fact that many units were rent stabilized,” a news release from James’ office reads.
According to the announcement, Ivanka Trump, who is also a Trump Organization executive and served as a White House counselor during Donald Trump’s administration, leased one of the apartments.
Despite the fact that the condo was valued at $25 million in Trump’s financial papers, Ivanka Trump was given the opportunity to buy it for $8.5 million. This, according to James, underlined the disparity between what the firm claimed the flat was worth and what it was actually worth.
Several Trump properties and businesses are named in the documents, including this one.
The Trump Tower, a golf course in Westchester County, New York, and a golf course near Aberdeen, Scotland are among the others. According to the attorney general’s office, evidence suggests that the valuations of those were similarly exaggerated.
“We have not yet reached a final determination regarding whether this evidence supports legal action,” James’ office says in the documents.
Trump slammed James’ probe in a statement released through his spokesperson Liz Harrington on Twitter.
“The only one misleading the public is Letitia James. She defrauded New Yorkers by basing her entire candidacy on a promise to get Trump at all costs without having seen a shred of evidence and in violation of every conceivable ethical rule,” said Trump.
Trump has always denied wrongdoing, claiming that James, a Democrat, is motivated by politics.
Ivanka Trump’s attorneys and the Trump Organization’s attorneys did not immediately respond to demands for comment.
The lawsuit was filed after Trump unsuccessfully challenged a series of subpoenas issued by the New York attorney general, which sought testimony from him, his son Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump.
The probe is being done in tandem with Manhattan District Attorney’s criminal investigation.
