Trump fined $110,000 for ‘obstructing’
The former president of the United States has been under investigation by New York State justice since 2019 for tax evasion.
The Trump Organization is suspected of having “fraudulently” overstated the value of real estate properties when applying for bank loans and of having understated them with the tax authorities to pay less tax.
Getty Images via AFP
Former US President Donald Trump has paid a fine of $110,000 for “obstructing” a major tax evasion investigation conducted since 2019 by New York State justice, a spokesperson announced on Friday.
Donald Trump was sentenced on April 25 by the New York Supreme Court to pay $10,000 a day as long as he refused to provide accounting and tax documents as part of a civil investigation by the Attorney General of state, Letitia James, against the Trump Organization family group. “On May 19, Donald Trump paid $110,000 for the services of the Attorney General,” a spokesperson for Letitia James, elected magistrate of the Democratic Party, announced in an email on Friday. Letitia James and the Republican billionaire have been engaged in a fierce procedural battle for months.
On February 17, the prosecutor obtained a New York judge to order Donald Trump and his children Donald Jr. and Ivanka to testify under oath in the context of this investigation, where she suspects “fraudulent” tax practices. A decision against which the Trumps, who accuse Letitia James of “political witch hunt”, have appealed. But the New York justice had also demanded accounting and tax documents from the Trump Organization before March 31. Faced with the refusal of Donald Trump, Letitia James had therefore obtained on April 25 that he be sentenced for “obstructing”.
A trial scheduled for this year
On May 6, however, the New York judge had suspended the counting of day-fines and decided that Donald Trump would have until Friday May 20 to pay for the period April 25 – May 6, i.e. 110,000 for 11 days. What he did on Thursday.
According to Letitia James’ spokesperson, the Trump camp also had until Friday to submit “sworn statements” relating to the Trump Organization’s request for accounting and tax records. These documents were indeed collected and produced by a third-party firm on Thursday, according to the same source. The judge must now decide whether the Trump camp has met all the demands.
Letitia James suspects the Trump Organization of having “fraudulently” overstated the value of real estate properties when applying for bank loans and of having understated them with the tax authorities to pay less taxes. Donald Trump is also facing a criminal investigation by the Manhattan prosecutor: the Trump Organization and its financial director Allen Weisselberg have been charged with tax evasion. They have pleaded not guilty and the trial is due to begin this year.
Posted today at 01:46
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