American judge rules: The Trumps have been submitting false financial reports for years. Criminal case against pop star Shakira for tax evasion

According to a New York judge, former US President Donald Trump manipulated the goodwill of his Trump Organization for years and thereby committed fraud. New York judge Arthur Engoron came to this conclusion in a preliminary ruling on Tuesday.

These are the most important points:

What exactly does this statement mean?

Judge Arthur Engoron’s decision was made just days before the scheduled hearing of the civil case between the New York Attorney General’s office and Donald Trump.

Engoron granted a request from Attorney General Letitia James for a so-called Summary proceedings – also called summary proceedings – instead of. Letitia James is the plaintiff in the civil case against Trump and his two eldest sons, Donald Junior and Eric Trump.

A party seeking summary proceedings tries to avoid the time and costs of a trial, while the outcome is clear according to the party. Since Judge Engeron granted the trial, it can be assumed that the evidence presented to him is clear.

The judge’s ruling on Tuesday is a kind of fundamental decision in the coming civil proceedings that the judge anticipated. In next week’s trial, it will be decided, among other things, how high the sentence against Trump will be. Because this is a civil case, a prison sentence is not possible.

For Trump and his company, the decision amounts to a major blow: It is a complete rejection of his arguments that he used the values ​​of his golf courses, hotels, homes at Mar-a-Lago and Seven Springs in his financial reports. , which were used repeatedly in business, not inflated.

What is Trump accused of?

Basically it’s a fraud: the ex-president, his sons and senior aides had it systematically overestimating the value of the company in annual reports in order to obtain loans and insurance contracts on more favorable terms.

Specifically, Judge Engeron ruled that the financial reports the Trumps provided to lenders and insurers for about a decade were false and that they had repeatedly committed fraud.

For example, Trump has indicated for years that his apartment in Trump Tower was about 2,800 square feet, even though it was only more than 1,000 square feet. As a result, the property was overvalued by up to $200 million. Financial documents say the value of his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida has been inflated by 2,300 percent.

“A discrepancy of this magnitude (…) can only be considered fraud,” Engoron wrote in his ruling.

What’s next?

The civil trial against Trump, filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, will begin next Monday. She wants to ensure that Trump has to pay $250 million in restitution and is no longer allowed to do business in New York. A final decision is expected in December.

Trump has been waging numerous conflicts with the American judiciary for decades. Even as a construction magnate he was embroiled in legal disputes. Even during his presidency from 2017 to 2021, he was repeatedly targeted by the judiciary. Since the end of his presidency, Trump has been faced with legal problems or investigations on various fronts that could have legal consequences for the 77-year-old. Trump wants to run again in the presidential elections next year. (lacquer/sda/dpa)