New York (AFP) - A New York judge ruled Thursday that an independent monitor must be named to avoid "further fraud" within Donald Trump's family business.
This is a stinging setback for the Trump Organization and supports the civil suit brought against the company by New York state attorney general Letitia James.
James was seeking the appointment of such a monitor as part of her civil proceedings against the former president and his three eldest children.
She accuses the Trump Organization of inflating the value of its assets to get better loan terms or lowering them to pay less in taxes.
This lawsuit, which has yet to go to trial, is separate from a trial that opened recently against the Trump Organization itself -- not Trump the man -- on fraud and tax evasion charges.
One of the implicated executives, longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, has already pleaded guilty to 15 counts of tax fraud, and is expected to testify against his former company as part of a plea bargain.
On Thursday Judge Arthur Engoron said there were "persistent misrepresentations" by Trump between 2011 and 2021 in documents called statements of financial condition.
"This court finds that the appointment of an independent monitor is the most prudent and narrowly tailored mechanism to ensure there is no further fraud or illegality that violates" New York state law, the judge said.
He said some of the examples cited by James were "particularly compelling." One involves Trump's triplex apartment in the Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in New York and an overevaluation of approximately $200 million, Engoron said.
Trump and his adult children are barred from "selling, transferring, or otherwise disposing of any non-cash asset listed on the 2021 Statement of Financial Condition of Donald J Trump" without first giving 14 days notice, the judge said.
In her separate lawsuit James is seeking $250 million in damages.
