New York Attorney General Letitia James raised concerns that former President Donald Trump may be trying to avoid accountability by forming a new company out of state, The New York Times reports.
James last month filed a $250 million fraud lawsuit against Trump, three of his kids, and the Trump Organization, accusing them of inflating the value of assets to secure favorable loan and insurance agreements but deflating their value to reduce tax liabilities.
The lawsuit accused the Trump family and his company of more than 200 instances of fraud and seeks to bar Trump and his children from running companies in the state as well as other punishments.
Trump Organization II:
James in a court filing on Thursday revealed that the Trump Organization formed a new entity called “Trump Organization II” in Delaware on the same day as the lawsuit was filed.
"Beyond just the continuation of its prior fraud, the Trump Organization now appears to be taking steps to restructure its business to avoid existing responsibilities under New York law," the filing said.
The filing said that Trump’s lawyers “did offer to provide assurances and advance notice to address what were described as 'purported concerns,' but again offered no concrete mechanism to either effectuate or enforce that offer."
The filing asked the court to bar the Trump Organization from transferring assets and appoint a special monitor to oversee financial disclosures.
Trump response:
Trump lawyer Alina Habba called the filing “simply another stunt.”
"We have repeatedly provided assurance, in writing, that the Trump Organization has no intention of doing anything improper," Habba said in a statement.
Habba has a pending request to move the lawsuit to a new court instead. The case had been before Justice Arthur Engoron, who held Trump in contempt and fined him $110,000 for refusing to sit for a deposition.
“The OAG’s filing is nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt to keep this case with Justice Engoron rather than have it transferred to the Commercial Division where it belongs,” Habba said.
