Tag

#fraud

10 incidents

Updated May 20, 2024 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Critical Rights and Rule-of-Law Concern

New York Civil Fraud Judgment: $454 Million for Inflating Assets Over Decades

Judge Engoron found that Trump had consistently and intentionally misrepresented asset values across a decade of financial statements. His Mar-a-Lago estate was valued in financial statements at up to $739 million — despite its deed restricting it to residential use, with an estimated fair market value of $75-100 million. His Trump Tower triplex was listed at 30,000 square feet when it was actually 10,996 square feet — nearly three times its actual size. The fraud allowed Trump to obtain loans at more favorable rates than he would have received with accurate valuations.

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4
fraudcivil-judgmentNew-Yorkpost-presidencyfinancial
Updated November 7, 2019 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Trump Foundation Dissolved Under Fraud Investigation — Self-Dealing, Political Donations, Portrait Purchases

The Trump Foundation, a charitable organization, was found by the New York AG to have engaged in a pattern of illegal conduct including: making a $25,000 donation to Florida AG Pam Bondi (who was deciding whether to open a Trump University investigation), purchasing a $20,000 portrait of Trump, paying off legal settlements for Trump businesses, and illegally coordinating with the Trump 2016 presidential campaign. Trump had also used foundation money to pay personal legal settlements — including $258,000 to resolve lawsuits involving his businesses.

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foundationfraudpre-presidencycharityBondi
Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Trump Taj Mahal: $10 Million FinCEN Fine for Willful Anti-Money-Laundering Violations

FinCEN found that the Trump Taj Mahal had, over the course of years, failed to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) on large cash transactions as required under the Bank Secrecy Act, failed to maintain adequate Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) programs, and failed to maintain basic anti-money-laundering controls. The violations were documented across thousands of transactions. FinCEN described the violations as 'willful' — meaning the casino knew what was required and did not comply. The $10 million fine was FinCEN's largest-ever against a casino; the previous Trump casinos had also faced regulatory action.

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casinomoney-launderingFinCENpre-presidencyAtlantic-City
Updated June 1, 2012 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Trump SoHo: Fraud Investigation, Investor Losses, DA Charges Dropped

Trump SoHo buyers, including an investor group led by Sateesh Bhagat, discovered that marketing materials claiming 60% of units were sold were false — fewer than 15% had been sold. They sued for fraud. The Manhattan DA opened a parallel criminal investigation. In 2012, after Trump lawyers met with DA Vance, the investigation was dropped. Vance later received a $25,000 campaign contribution from Kasowitz's law firm, which he initially kept and later returned; Vance denied it influenced his decision. The Bhagat investor group settled civilly for $3.16 million. The pattern — criminal investigation followed by dropped charges after private meeting — resembled the Bondi situation in Florida.

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4
Trump-SoHofraudpre-presidencycorruptionManhattan-DA
Updated November 18, 2016 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Trump University: Defrauding Thousands of Students Through a Fraudulent 'Education' Scheme

Trump University promised to teach students Trump's real estate 'secrets' through courses taught by his handpicked instructors. In practice, it was found to be a high-pressure sales operation that extracted money from vulnerable people — including elderly retirees — through a series of escalating upsells. New York's attorney general sued for $40 million; a California class action settled for $25 million in 2016.

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5
fraudTrump-Universitycorruptionpre-presidencyconsumer-fraud
Updated November 18, 2016 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Trump University: Fraud Settlement After Defrauding Students of $40 Million

Trump University was not a real university — it had no degree programs, no accreditation, and was not approved to use the word 'university' in New York. Students paid from $1,495 for a preview seminar to $35,000 for a 'Trump Elite' mentorship package. Former employees provided sworn declarations that they were instructed to aggressively upsell students to higher-priced programs and use high-pressure sales tactics. Student evaluation forms praised instructors at the time — but these were collected before students could assess outcomes. Former Trump University president Michael Sexton acknowledged the program was selling a brand, not education. Trump had selected none of the instructors himself, contradicting his marketing claims.

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Trump-Universityfraudpre-presidencycorruptionSchneiderman
Updated November 18, 2016 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Trump University: $25 Million Fraud Settlement, Students Defrauded of Thousands

Trump University was not an accredited university and did not grant degrees. It marketed heavily using Trump's image and promises that students would learn from Trump's 'handpicked instructors.' Playbooks obtained by Washington Post showed instructors were coached to identify students' financial resources and upsell them to higher tiers; students were encouraged to raise credit card limits to pay for more expensive packages. Former employees testified to high-pressure sales tactics. The $25 million settlement resolved claims by approximately 6,000 students and was approved by a federal judge in April 2017.

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Trump-Universityfraudpre-presidencysettlementstudents
Updated September 26, 2016 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Atlantic City Casinos: Six Bankruptcies, Bondholders Wiped Out, Workers Unpaid

Trump's Atlantic City casinos were overleveraged from the beginning: the Taj Mahal alone carried $675 million in junk bonds at 14% interest when it opened in 1990. When revenue fell short of the debt service requirements, bankruptcy followed. Through six rounds of bankruptcy, Trump negotiated deals that preserved his equity stake or management role while bondholders received cents on the dollar. He personally profited $82 million in salary and fees from the casinos between 1995 and 2009 while publicly traded Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts lost $1.4 billion. Trump repeatedly characterized the bankruptcies as strategic use of 'the laws of this country' and claimed he had made 'a lot of money' on Atlantic City.

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3
Atlantic-Citybankruptcycasinospre-presidencyfinancial
Updated February 17, 2009 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Casino Bankruptcies and Junk Bond Fraud: How Trump Used Other People's Money

Trump's Atlantic City casinos — the Taj Mahal, Plaza, Castle, and related entities — were financed with junk bonds carrying interest rates of 14-17%, which were unsustainable given the revenue the casinos could generate. Trump had collected hundreds of millions in management fees, licensing fees, and development profits before the bankruptcies. When the companies collapsed, thousands of bondholders, including retirees who had purchased the high-yield bonds, received pennies on the dollar or nothing.

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bankruptcycasinoAtlantic-Cityjunk-bondspre-presidency
Updated June 9, 2016 Corruption & Self-Dealing
Major Abuse of Power

Decades of Stiffing Contractors: Trump's Documented Pattern of Refusing to Pay

USA Today's 2016 investigation found that Trump and his companies had been sued more than 3,500 times in U.S. federal and state courts over the previous three decades, with a significant portion related to nonpayment claims by contractors, vendors, and employees. Among those who reported not being paid: drapery installers, piano players, porters, waiters, dishwashers, real estate brokers, plumbers, and hundreds of hourly workers. Trump's standard response was to challenge the quality of work — often leaving small contractors to choose between expensive litigation or accepting partial payment.

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contractorsfraudpre-presidencyworkersnonpayment