Evidence Suggests Trump Organization Falsely Valued Assets to Get Loans and Tax Breaks, New York Attorney General Says

“To this point in our investigation, we now have uncovered vital proof that means Donald J. Trump and the Trump Group falsely and fraudulently valued a number of property and misrepresented these values to monetary establishments for financial profit,” Ms. James, a Democrat, mentioned.

The Trumps have requested a decide to quash the subpoenas or put them on maintain till a parallel felony case has concluded. Attorneys for the Trumps have argued that any data the legal professional normal’s legal professionals gained by depositions could possibly be improperly used within the felony investigation, which the Manhattan district legal professional’s workplace is conducting alongside legal professionals from the legal professional normal’s workplace.

Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for Donald Jr. and Ivanka Trump, mentioned that within the filings the legal professional normal’s workplace hadn’t addressed the Trumps’ core arguments.

“In 160 pages of authorized briefing, the Legal professional Common’s Workplace intentionally fails to deal with Ms. James’s repeated threats to focus on the Trump household and her assertions about her felony investigation—all that are the essence of our movement to quash the subpoenas or keep them,” Mr. Futerfas mentioned.

A spokeswoman for the Trump Group mentioned Ms. James’s allegations have been baseless. “She defrauded New Yorkers by basing her complete candidacy on a promise to get Trump in any respect prices with out having seen a shred of proof and in violation of each conceivable moral rule,” the spokeswoman mentioned. Ms. James has beforehand defended her investigation, saying nobody is above the legislation.

Alina Habba, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, mentioned the filings have been the most recent in an extended line of unfounded assaults towards the previous president.

The workplace has mentioned its investigation started in March 2019, after former Trump lawyer

Michael Cohen

testified earlier than Congress that Mr. Trump deflated his property to lower real-estate taxes and inflated them to achieve monetary advantages.

Ms. James’s workplace mentioned it decided that Mr. Trump made inaccurate statements in his statements of economic situation, a set of economic data compiled however not audited by his accountants that contained values for properties and property.

The inaccuracies pertained to Trump properties together with Seven Springs, an property north of New York Metropolis; Mr. Trump’s triplex house in Trump Tower; and the Trump Worldwide Golf Membership Scotland, the legal professional normal’s workplace mentioned.

To worth Mr. Trump’s house, the statements primarily based a calculation on the assertion that the triplex was 30,000 sq. ft, regardless of the precise measurement being 10,996 sq. ft, the legal professional normal’s workplace mentioned. The 2015 and 2016 statements valued the house at $327 million, primarily based on the 30,000-square -foot measurement, based on the workplace.

The legal professional normal’s workplace mentioned its proof confirmed banks and monetary establishments relied on the statements when figuring out whether or not to grant Mr. Trump and his firm loans and insurance coverage.

Write to Corinne Ramey at Corinne.Ramey@wsj.com