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In Donald Trump‘s business fraud case in New York, most of the focus has been on the former president. As the courtroom proceedings move forward, though, another member of his family is drawing the spotlight: Eric Trump.
It seems that the youngest son from his marriage to Ivana Trump is a key part of the testimony. New York Attorney General Letitia James’ alleges that the Trump Organization and executives on the staff roster, particularly Eric, “fraudulently inflated asset values on financial statements given to lenders, insurers and others,” per Associated Press. Thursday’s events proved to be crucial for mapping out how Eric was involved in the reported scheme.
In 2013, the family was looking for a “conservation easement” on two properties, the Trump National Golf Club and their Seven Springs estate in Westchester County. The easement would prohibit them from developing the properties further, but it would give them a tax break for those restrictions. To get that tax break, the Trump Organization had to figure out the value of the two locations — and that’s where Eric enters the chat.
David McArdle, a Cushman & Wakefield appraiser, was hired in 2013 to take a look at the value of the golf course. It was clear from the very beginning that Eric and McArdle did not see eye-to-eye on what it was worth. “Of course, Eric Trump has lofty ideas on value,” the appraiser wrote in an email to one of his co-workers at the time.
While McArdle presented a reasonable $45 million to the Trump Organization, he also knew that Eric would probably push back that number. McArdle noted in his testimony that he discussed the situation with his colleagues because it was time “to finally tell Eric he should accept this value from the professionals.” Of course, they didn’t take McArdle’s advice. Instead, Donald Trump’s financial statements valued the Trump National Golf Club around $100 million, according to James’ lawsuit — a $55 million difference.
The same thing happened to McArdle with the Seven Springs estate, which he valued at $50 million, but Eric turned around and defied that professional assessment. Donald Trump’s financial documents recorded that it was worth $160 million. Eric doesn’t have much to say about his interactions with McArdle, claiming in his pretrial testimony, “I pour concrete. I operate properties. I don’t focus on appraisals between a law firm and Cushman.” Perhaps Eric might want to revisit some of the emails James’ has entered as evidence because the business fraud case isn’t looking good for the Trump Organization right now.
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