The suit, which also targets three of Donald Trump’s adult children and the Trump Organization, alleges a slew of accounting sleight of hand.
Ted Shaffrey/AP Photo
At Trump Tower, the 58-story skyscraper on Fifth Avenue that’s also home to the Trump Organization’s headquarters, the firm said it consulted “outside professionals” to reach valuations in the annual financial statements between 2011 and 2019. But the suit says there’s “no evidence” any such third-party evaluation occurred and alleges the firm conducted a “series of coordinated actions” to artificially push up the building’s estimated price.
James says Trump further distorted his net worth by repeatedly counting funds he did not control, such as money held by Vornado Partnership Interests, in which he had a minority stake.
Trump’s tax statements also neglected to mention his 50 percent interest in a joint venture in a Las Vegas hotel-condo tower, James alleged. In 2015, his organization submitted a nearly $25 million valuation for the Trump International Hotel and Tower to contest taxes Nevada was charging him. Yet that same year, his company reported the property was worth $107 million — “a value the Trump Organization reached using fraudulent methods,” according to legal papers James released.
At several of the Trump Organization’s golf courses — from Briarcliff Manor, New York, to Colts Neck, New Jersey to Mooresville, North Carolina — the firm inflated the value of unsold memberships to further bump up valuations.
“The pattern of fraud that was used by Mr. Trump and the Trump organization was astounding,” James said at a press conference in announcing her much-anticipated lawsuit.
Olivia Olander contributed to this report.
