United States: Donald Trump and his two children must appear in court

Published on 8/06/2022 at 22:59Reading Time: 2 Minutes

YouA New York judge has set July 15 a hearing for former US President Donald Trump and his two children in a civil investigation into the family group’s tax practices, according to a court document.

The latest episode in a long standoff between the Republican billionaire and New York state’s Democratic attorney general, Letitia James, who is leading the investigation, suggests the decision can still be appealed.

Donald Trump and his two children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka, “begin Friday, July 15 and continue through next week, until a stay is granted by the New York Court of Appeals,” wrote Judge Arthur Engeron in the document. signed by the parties.

potential fraud

The investigation, launched since March 2019, concerns potential fraud in the Trump Organization’s tax practices, which notably include buildings, luxury properties, hotels and golf courses.

This is happening in parallel with another criminal investigation by a Manhattan prosecutor, which accused the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer Alan Weiselberg of tax evasion and pleaded not guilty.

The civil investigation intensified in January when Letitia James announced that she had gathered “significant evidence that suggests Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently appraised a number of properties” in order to obtain pecuniary benefits.

Outright, she suspects that the Trump Organization “fraudulently” underreported the value of some properties when applying for loans from banks and underreported others with tax officials trying to pay less taxes.

Letitia James, whom the Trump camp accuses of leading a political “witch hunt”, received on February 17 that a judge orders the former president and his children to be heard, but Republicans used multiple appeals. has done.