An interesting twist has developed in the New York fraud case against Trump brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Donald Trump’s tax broker shockingly admitted that in 2020, the value of Mar-a-Lago was only $27 million, not the $517 million that was claimed on the financial documents.
According to the report, Trump has listed Mar-a-Lago at $517 million on the form in question, which was used to secure business deals and loans.
From 2011 through 2021, Trump listed the property value between $426 million to $612 million.
Trump’s tax broker, however, said the property was only valued at $26.6 million, obviously far below what was on the forms.
The higher net worth enabled Trump to get far more favorable loans as well as larger loans than he would have been able to obtain if his net worth had been lower.
The New York Attorney General is now claiming that Trump’s actual net worth was roughly 50% lower than what Trump had been saying it was.
Trump tax representative, Michael Corbiciero, told the court that he tried to appeal the valuation of Mar-a-Lago by the Palm Beach County assessor’s office, but he was unsuccessful, finally admitting that the property had been valued at $26.6 million.
Former Trump Organization Vice President Raymond Flores was also asked about the valuation by prosecutor Andrew Amer.
Amer asked:
“Was it your understanding that the appeal was withdrawn because the Trump Organization agreed with the value of the property assessor?”
Flores answered:
“Yes.”
If that is truly the case, James' team pretty much has an open and shut-case from this point out, but the verdict here already seems to have been decided upon by Judge Engoron.
This is a major blow against Trump in this case, and it could be the smoking gun that seals his fate.
I still find it hard to believe that Mar-a-Lago, considering its size and relationships, is only worth $26.6 million when other properties in the area, properties much smaller than Trump’s, have sold for hundreds of millions in recent years.
In terms of the fraud, it does not appear this will hurt Trump in terms of landing business deals, as there has been testimony to refute Trump’s overall net worth as the deciding factor.
For instance, David Cerron, an assistant commissioner in the New York City Parks and Recreation Department, noted that while Trump’s finances were a consideration in awarding Trump the contract to run a city golf course in Ferry Point, Trump’s net worth “was the lowest” factor considered when granting him the contract.
They were more interested in Trump’s experience and the name recognition factor.
The one thing in Trump’s favor is that he never missed any payments for his obligations, regardless of his bloated net worth.
The biggest problem for Trump is the loan terms, which would have been far less favorable, not to mention Trump would not have been likely to get some of the larger loans he was able to secure over the years without bloating those numbers.
Trump maintains that the valuations being used are wrong and that he did nothing wrong.
This, according to Trump, is just one more witch hunt by Democrats to block him from winning the election in 2024.
