The Manhattan District Attorney’s Investigation of Former President Trump
Donald Trump Trump promises ‘No more money for RINOS’ but instead encourages donations to his PAC. Federal judge rules ‘QAnon shaman’ too dangerous to be released from prison Pelosi says Capitol riot was one of the most difficult moments of her career MOREFinances have reportedly been expanded, with prosecutors suing documents from an investment company that lent the Trump organization millions of dollars for its Chicago skyscraper.
CNN, referring to people familiar with the case, reported that prosecutors issued a grand jury subpoena to Fortress Investment Management late last year as part of their investigation into Trump’s finances. Fortress Investment previously provided the Trump Organization with a $ 130 million loan to build what would become Trump Tower Chicago, CNN noted.
According to court documents cited by the network, in 2012 Fortress forgiven more than $ 100 million of the original loan, which totaled about $ 150 million at the time, including interest and fees.
The forgiveness was completed “to secure a partial repayment of approximately $ 45 million at a time when the real estate market was suffering from the financial crisis,” CNN reported.
Prosecutors are now reportedly focusing on how the Trump Organization handled Fortress’s loan. They are investigating whether Trump and the organization documented the forgiveness as income – which is required by the Internal Revenue Service – and paid taxes on the money, CNN reported, citing people familiar with the case.
The Trump organization did not respond to CNN’s request for comment. However, CNN noted that Alan Garten, the Trump Organization’s chief legal officer, told The New York Times last October that the company and Trump appropriately recorded and paid all taxes owed on forgiven debts.
The Times, which obtained parts of Trump’s tax return data last September, reported that his forgiven debts had been recorded in its tax returns as forgiven debts. According to the Times, Trump took advantage of a clause of the Great Recession bailout that “allowed income from debt forgiveness to be completely deferred for five years and then evenly distributed among the next five.”
These developments are because the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. (D) gained access to several years of Trump’s tax records after an attempt by the former president to keep it out of the hands of prosecutors.