New York Attorney General Letitia James said Wednesday her office believes it has uncovered federal crimes committed by former President Donald Trump and others, including bank fraud and lying to financial institutions.
James said her office has sent criminal referrals to federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the IRS.
The ex-president’s disclosure of possible federal crimes comes as James announced a civil lawsuit against TrumpHis three adult children and several of his longtime business associates filed fraudulent financial statements over the years for various financial gain.
“We believe the conduct alleged in this action also violates federal criminal law,” James said, “including making false statements to financial institutions and bank fraud.”
“We are forwarding the criminal violations we discovered to the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Internal Revenue Service,” James said at a press conference.
The 220-page civil lawsuit, filed earlier Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court, seeking damages of at least $250 million. It seeks to permanently ban Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump from being employees of a New York company, and permanently ban the Trump companies named in the lawsuit from doing business in the state.
The defendants “repeatedly and repeatedly manipulated asset values to get banks to lend money to the Trump Organization on more favorable terms” than would otherwise be possible, James said Wednesday morning. . James said they did this to “pay lower taxes,” as well as meet loan agreements and get insurance companies to agree to more favorable terms.
Seven causes of action are listed in the complaint – persistent and repeated fraud, falsification of business records, conspiracy to falsify business records, issuance of false financial statements , conspiracy to falsify financial statements, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud – all of which fall under the New York penal code.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office told NBC News: “We are aware of the New York Attorney General’s recommendation, and beyond that denial, we will comment further.”
Alina Habba, Trump’s attorney, in a statement Wednesday accused James of filing a civil lawsuit to advance her “political agenda.”
“It is clear that the Attorney General’s Office exceeded its statutory authority in conducting transactions where absolutely no wrongdoing occurred,” Habba said.
“We are confident that our justice system will not stand up to this unchecked abuse of power, and we look forward to protecting our clients against any unjust claims made by us,” she said. Minister of Justice.
