The accounting firm of former US President Donald Trump has decided to part ways with its longtime client. Reason: the financial statements he provided to her over nearly a decade were unreliable, according to court documents released on Monday, February 14.
Last week, the Mazars group informed the Trump Organization in a letter that it would no longer work for the company, which is under investigation for possible tax evasion. The document was presented in court by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who was asking a judge to compel Donald Trump to testify in the investigation. Mme James announced in January that his team had uncovered evidence of fraudulent asset valuations.
According to Mazars, the prosecutor’s findings led her to consider that the Trump Organization’s accounting for a period from June 30, 2011 to June 30, 2020 “should no longer be deemed reliable”. The firm added that its own investigation and “information received from internal and external sources” also weighed in his choice.
“While we have not concluded that the various balance sheets, taken together, contained any material irregularities, given the circumstances, we believe that our advice to no longer rely on these financial records is warranted”, indicates the letter. Partly because of this decision, Mazars “no longer able to supply new product to the Trump Organization”we read again.
Suspicions of tax evasion
These financial statements are at the center of Ms.me James, and another, criminal, led by the Manhattan district attorney. The Trump Organization is suspected of overestimating the value of certain properties when applying for loans from banks and instead underestimating them with the tax authorities in order to pay less tax.
In July 2021, the Trump Organization and its loyal accountant, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded not guilty in a New York court on fifteen counts of fraud and tax evasion.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office received multi-year tax returns from Mazars in January from Donald Trump after a legal battle which went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. For Donald Trump, the two investigations are motivated by political objectives.
The Trump Organization has expressed its ” disappointment “ after the decision of the Mazars group, in a press release Monday evening. But the letter from the accounting firm proves, according to her, that “Mazars’ work has been carried out in accordance with all applicable accounting rules and principles” and that these financial statements “contain no significant anomaly”.
These legal troubles could complicate a possible second race for the White House. The 75-year-old billionaire leaves doubts about his intention to run again, or not, for the Republican nomination.