New York's attorney general on Wednesday announced she is suing former US president Donald Trump and family members for business fraud, and seeing for them to be barred from conducting New York business for years.
“We’re filing a lawsuit against Donald Trump for violating the law as part of his efforts to generate profits for himself, his family, his company,” Ms James said.
“The complaint demonstrates that Donald Trump falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself and to cheat the system, thereby cheating all of us.”
The civil fraud lawsuit alleges that Mr Trump and those involved in the Trump Organisation falsely valued their assets to get favourable loans or tax benefits.
Three of Mr Trump's children — Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump — were also named in the lawsuit.
“I never thought this case would be brought,” Mr Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, while also accusing Ms James of conducting a “get Trump” campaign.
He went on to blame Ms James as a "failed" attorney general causing people to leave New York in a separate post.
Ms James said that her department's three-year investigation found that the accused had submitted more than 200 false valuations on annual financial statements, which then allowed them to get hundreds of millions of dollars in loans.
The probe began after Mr Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen touched on business misconduct while speaking before Congress in 2019.
“We show that they violated several state criminal laws, including falsifying business records, showing false financial statements, insurance fraud and engaging in a conspiracy to commit each of these state law violations,” she said.
The charges are being filed as a civil fraud lawsuit, but Ms James said she will make a criminal referral to the Southern District of New York and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for possible federal prosecution.
“We believe the conduct alleged in this action also violates federal criminal law, including issuing false statements to financial institutions and bank fraud,” she declared.
It was not immediately known if federal prosecutors or the IRS will open criminal probes.
Ms James said she is asking a New York court to permanently bar the former president and his three children from conducting business in the state.
She is also seeking to bar Mr Trump and the Trump Organisation from making commercial real estate purchases in New York for five years.
The state is also demanding that Mr Trump pay $250 million in penalties.
Allen Weisselberg, former chief financial officer of the Trump Organisation, is also mentioned in the lawsuit.
Mr Trump, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr gave evidence under oath in August.
Abu Dhabi GP Saturday schedule
12.30pm GP3 race (18 laps)
2pm Formula One final practice
5pm Formula One qualifying
6.40pm Formula 2 race (31 laps)
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
Afghanistan squad
Gulbadin Naib (captain), Mohammad Shahzad (wicketkeeper), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
About Seez
Company name/date started: Seez, set up in September 2015 and the app was released in August 2017
Founder/CEO name(s): Tarek Kabrit, co-founder and chief executive, and Andrew Kabrit, co-founder and chief operating officer
Based in: Dubai, with operations also in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon
Sector: Search engine for car buying, selling and leasing
Size: (employees/revenue): 11; undisclosed
Stage of funding: $1.8 million in seed funding; followed by another $1.5m bridge round - in the process of closing Series A
Investors: Wamda Capital, B&Y and Phoenician Funds
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
