Accountant's testimony sprawls into a 4th day at Trump business fraud trial in New York
An accountant who prepared Donald Trump’s financial statements is back on the witness stand for a fourth day in the New York civil trial examining whether the former president exaggerated his wealth
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An accountant who prepared Donald Trump's financial statements was back on the witness stand for a fourth day Thursday in the New York civil fraud trial examining whether the former president exaggerated his wealth.
Trump himself didn't attend the proceedings Thursday, after choosing to be there — and avail himself of the news cameras waiting outside — for the three prior days.
The business fraud trial stems from New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit alleging that Trump and his business ginned up financial statements that vastly overvalued Trump Tower, Mar-a-Lago and other assets. Trump denies any wrongdoing and says James, a Democrat, is just trying to damage his 2024 presidential campaign. He's leading the Republican field.
The non-jury trial concerns allegations of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records. James is seeking $250 million in penalties and a ban on Trump doing business in New York.
The witnesses so far have been two accountants who worked on the financial statements, which went to banks, insurers and others.
James' legal team is working to show that Trump and his company had complete control over the preparation of the statements, with the accountants relying on information the Trump Organization provided.
The defense has been trying to show that if there were problems with the financial statements, the flubs were accountant Donald Bender's fault. Trump lawyer Jesus M. Suarez on Thursday continued an exacting cross-examination of Bender, who worked on the statements for years.
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled on some other claims before the trial, finding that Trump did engage in fraud by inflating his assets' worth on the statements.
The ruling, which Trump appealed Wednesday, calls for dissolving the limited liability companies that control Trump Tower and some other prominent holdings and having a receiver operate them. Trump would lose his authority over choosing tenants, hiring or firing employees and other key decisions on those properties.
In an order Thursday, Engoron ordered both sides to submit names of potential receivers by Oct. 26. He also gave Trump and other defendants seven days to provide a list of all entities covered by the ruling. The list will go to a court-appointed monitor, retired federal Judge Barbara Jones.
Engoron, seeking to prevent an end run around his ruling, told the defendants to give Jones advance notice of any application for new business licenses in any jurisdiction and any attempts to create new entities to “hold or acquire the assets” of a company that's being dissolved under the ruling.
___
Follow Sisak at x.com/mikesisak and send confidential tips by visiting https://www.ap.org/tips.