The eldest son of ex-president Donald Trump blamed the family business’s accountants.
of the former President of the United States Donald Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr. testified Wednesday in a civil fraud trial involving his family’s real estate business in Manhattan, New York. 45-year-old Donald Jr. assured the judge that he has not interfered with the financial documents at the heart of the indictment.
When the New York State Attorney Colleen Faherty asked who took control of the Trump Organization when Donald Trump became the host of the White House in January 2017, Donald Jr., dressed in a dark blue suit and pink tie, confirmed that he was at the helm of the family business.
– Lineup me, my brother (Eric) and Allen Weisselberg, a casual Donald Jr. replied. Weisselberg is the organization’s former CFO, who was sentenced in 2022 to prison for tax fraud.
The financial statements from 2016 onwards provide a snapshot of the financial situation of the Trump Organization and are the core of the indictment. However, Donald Jr. said that he is not aware of the accounting principles of the financial statements of the organization he leads and explained that he trusted his accounting firm, Mazars.
– I was not involved in preparing this statement. The accountants worked on it. That’s what we paid them for, he said.
Donald Jr.’s hearing continues on Thursday.
Donald Jr. is the first member of the Trump family to testify at the trial. In it, the Trump Organization is accused of exaggerating the value of its assets by billions of dollars in order to obtain cheaper bank loans and better insurance terms. Yritysrypäs manages residential and office skyscrapers, luxury hotels and golf courses around the world. Also, Donald Trump’s younger son, Eric Trump39, is expected to testify this week.
The eldest daughter of Donald Trump, 77 Ivanka Trump, 42, is not charged, having left the Trump Organization in 2017 to become an adviser to his father in the White House. However, Ivanka Trump has been ordered to testify at the trial. He has complained about the summons.
Donald Trump himself may be questioned next Monday.
The former president and his son face no jail time in a fraud case brought by New York state prosecutors, but face fines of up to $250 million and possible ouster from running the family business.
Source: AFP