The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has expanded its criminal investigation into President Donald Trump’s company to include sprawling premises in Westchester County, New York.
A lawyer from the city of Bedford, NY, told CNBC that DA Cyrus Vance Jr. sometime “before Christmas” has issued a subpeona to the city for data pertaining to the Trump Organization’s Seven Springs Estate site, as part of a criminal investigation.
Bedford’s attorney, Joel Sachs, said he believed that in addition to Bedford, the towns of New Castle and North Castle had also been subpoenaed by Vance’s office for the criminal investigation, because the 213-acre estate encompasses all three towns.
The company’s valuation of Seven Springs for several months was the focus of a civil fraud investigation by the Attorney General’s office in New York.
AG Letitia James has said she is investigating whether Trump’s company has overly inflated the value of Seven Springs on financial statements used to obtain loans and to gain economic and tax benefits. Trump bought the property in 1996 for just $ 7.5 million. In 2012, he valued the property at a whopping $ 291 million.
Vance’s office was already known to be investigating hush money payments to women who said they had had sex with Trump, as well as possible tax, banking and insurance fraud. Trump has denied having sex with the women, porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a subpoena for years of tax and financial records from his accountants, issued by a Manhattan grand jury acting at Vance’s request. The Supreme Court has yet to decide whether it will hear Trump’s appeal against lower court rulings requiring the Mazars USA firm to turn in those documents.
On Friday, The Associated Press reported that on Thursday, investigators in Vance’s office interviewed Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and asked him about the president’s business dealings, with particular reference to his relationship with Deutsche Bank, the largest lender of the United States. Trump.
Cohen testified before Congress in 2019 that the president’s annual financial statement had been inflated to the value of his assets in order to obtain favorable terms for loans and insurance coverage, while the value of other assets was reduced to lower the property taxes due on them.
Ivy Pool, New Castle Town supervisor, declined to comment when he reached out to CNBC. North Castle officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vance spokesman Danny Frost declined to comment.
A Trump organization spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the extension of Vance’s investigation to Seven Springs.
AG James’s office in a lawsuit related to her investigation noted that, “ Seven Springs appraisals were used to claim an apparent tax deduction of $ 21.1 million for donating an easement on the property in fiscal year 2015, and in submissions to financial institutions part of Mr. Trump’s net worth. “
James’ probe also looks at other Trump’s valuation, at 40 Wall Street in Manhattan, the Trump Internaional Hotel and Tower Chicago, and Trump National Golf Club – Los Angeles.
Eric Trump, the president’s son and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, was forced to answer questions from James’ investigators for their investigation last fall after failing to convince a judge to delay his testimony until after the presidential election, which his father lost to Joe Biden.
Eric Trump, along with his brother, Donald Trump Jr., led the Trump organization while their father served as president.
Donald Trump was impeached for the second time by the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
He is accused in those proceedings of setting up a mob of supporters who revolted in the Capitol, disrupting confirmation by a joint session of the election of the Congress of Biden. Five people, including a Capitol police officer who was killed by the crowd, died as a result of the incident.
Biden will be sworn in next Wednesday.
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