President Donald Trump’s businesses gave a lender different figures on some expenses, profits and occupancy for two Manhattan buildings than they provided New York City tax authorities, ProPublica is reporting.
Citing documents it obtained, the news outlet said the discrepancies made the buildings appear more profitable to the lender and less profitable to officials who set the property tax for the buildings.
In one case, Trump business officials informed the lender that they brought in twice as much rent from one of the buildings as they reported to tax authorities that same year, according to ProPublica.
The discrepancies are “versions of fraud,” said Nancy Wallace, a professor of finance and real estate at the University of California-Berkeley.
“This kind of stuff is not OK,” she said.
And Anne Milgram, a former attorney general for New Jersey, added: “Certainly, if I were sitting in a prosecutor’s office, I would want to ask a lot more questions.”
ProPublica reviewed records for four properties: 40 Wall Street, the Trump International Hotel and Tower, 1290 Avenue of the Americas and Trump Tower. Discrepancies involving — 40 Wall Street and the Trump International Hotel and Tower — stood out, it said.
Laura Feyer, spokesperson for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, said of the Trump International Hotel and Tower, “The city is looking into this property, and if there has been any underreporting, we will take appropriate action.”
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization did not respond on the record to questions by ProPublica.
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