The New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ office announced the change of mode of investigation of the Trump Organization in an official statement on Tuesday. The case will now be investigated in a “criminal capacity “along with a civil probe.
The spokesperson for attorney general, Fabien Levy further stated that the Trump Organization has been notified of this change.
The Trump Organization will be probed in a criminal capacity with the help of the Manhattan district attorney office which is already pursuing the Organization in financial and legal matters.
If any type of criminal charges is pressed, they will be brought to the Manhattan district attorney’s office, not to Letitia James’ state office. The addition of a criminal capacity probe to the investigation has raised newer possibilities of penalties imposed on the Trump Organization if the charges are proven in front of the Manhattan DA office.
Letitia James‘ office has been probing an investigation over the financial statements and assets evaluation for the past 2 years now.
The Trump Organization is being probed about the inflation of assets to gain financial and economic benefits along with deflation of certain assets to get taxation relief.
Michael Cohen, a former attorney of the ex-president Donald Trump testified in 2019 about inflating the value of assets in financial statements of the Organization in order to secure loans and favorable insurance coverages alongside deflating the actual value of the real estate to avoid taxation.
Cohen who had once stated that he is a Trump loyalist and will take a bullet for Trump is currently serving a 3-year sentence in home confinement for campaigning financial violations and other criminal activities.
Manhattan’s District Attorney Cy Vance is already investigating Trump’s tax returns. The Trump Organization has been under severe scrutiny since the founder Donald Trump left the Oval office as President in January 2021. The Organization’s properties and financial dealings are being thoroughly investigated as part of the probe.
In particular, The Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago, 40 Wall Street (a major business hub in lower Manhattan), Seven Springs Estate in Westchester County, The Trump National golf club in Los Angeles are all under heavy scrutiny at the moment under the supervision of Letitia James.
The Trump Organization has not made any official statement regarding the change of mode of investigation. The Organization has previously declined any wrongdoing and claimed to come out clean from the investigation.
Sheri Dillon, a longtime tax attorney for Donald Trump was called by the State Attorney’s office but she couldn’t answer certain questions regarding the taxation matters. This resulted in the continuation of the probe.
James’ office has been looking into the financial matters of the Trump Organization for the past two years. Along with the changes in financial statements, it is also investigating how the Organization’s employees were compensated. As the criminal capacity is added to the probe, any of the officials or employees of the Trump Organization will be convicted for their crime.
Donald Trump and his son Eric Trump have multiple times exclaimed that the investigative probe from New York attorney general Letitia James is politically motivated.
As the probe gets deeper and Manhattan district attorney and New York state attorney offices join hands, the trouble is just around the corner for Trump and his family.
