The Trump Organization and its associates have received encouraging news from the New York Appellate Court Division. The court has halted New York Attorney General and Judge Engoron’s efforts to revoke the organization’s New York business certificates.
This comes shortly after a decisive verdict by Judge Arthur Engoron, who claimed that former President Donald Trump had engaged in fraudulent activities spanning years, particularly in relation to the appraisal of his real estate assets.
Eric Trump took to Twitter to express his gratitude, stating, “We thank the Appellate Division for staying the NY Attorney General’s and Judge Engoron’s overzealous attempt to cancel our New York business certificates.”
“Judge Engoron’s order erroneously sought to adjudicate the rights of non-party business entities that employ nearly 1,000 hard-working New Yorkers, have never been accused of any wrongdoing and, were never given their day in court – in clear violation of their fundamental Constitutional rights and Due Process. We will continue to vigorously defend our company and our incredible employees from this politically-motivated persecution.”
The lawsuit, initiated by New York’s Attorney General Letitia James, asserts that Trump and his businesses consistently provided misleading figures to financial establishments, inflating the value of assets to ensure favorable loan conditions and insurance premiums.
An allegation of particular note claimed that Trump exaggerated his net worth by amounts ranging from $812 million to as much as $2.2 billion annually. In the lawsuit, James seeks $250 million in fines and wishes to ban Trump from any business activities within New York.
Engoron’s initial decision called for the annulment of several Trump business licenses and ordered an impartial supervisor to continually assess the Trump Organization’s operations. The Judge criticized the Trump Organization’s valuation methods, highlighting incongruences in asset appraisals.
However, Trump’s legal team ardently opposed the allegations, pointing towards the absence of evidence indicating public harm due to Trump’s business activities. They further contended that the case should be dismissed based on the statute of limitations. Still, Engoron compared their repeated defenses to the recurrent theme of the film “Groundhog Day.”
Among the most striking allegations, the lawsuit claimed that Trump exaggerated the value of assets, including his Trump Tower apartment and Mar-a-Lago estate. Yet, in his defense, Trump said that the banks benefited during his business ventures and that the disclaimers on his financial statements indicate they should not be taken at face value.
On Friday Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, gave viewers an inside look into how his New York civil case is progressing, saying upcoming developments are “not gonna go so well” for New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“This court, which we strongly believe we shouldn’t have been in, we’ve been fighting hard. And I’ve gotta tell you: their key witness, you know, came up, he said frankly everything I wanted him to say perfectly and I looked over and I think that we’re doing very well and it’s not going to go so well for Letitia James,” said Habba.
“At the end of the day, the Trump Organization did nothing wrong and they’re using a consumer fraud statute inappropriately against a private business. It’s not supposed to happen and it’s a very scary precedent for New Yorkers,” she added.
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