Donald Trump is facing an investigation from New York state’s tax division after a New York Times investigation revealed what appeared to be massive fraud in his family’s business empire.
The report, which was compiled over the course of the last year, found several instances of “outright fraud” to transfer money from Donald Trump’s father and the company’s founder, Fred Trump, to his children while avoiding the proper taxes. This took place over the course of decades as Donald Trump was making a name as a real estate magnate in New York City.
The investigative piece caught the immediate attention of the state of New York, where the alleged tax fraud took place.
“The Tax Department is reviewing the allegations in the NYT article and is vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation,” a spokesman from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance told CNBC .
The report claimed that Donald Trump received the modern-day equivalent of $413 million worth of real estate holdings from his father using schemes to avoid taxes, including some legal and some illegal loopholes. The report also contradicted Donald Trump’s claim that he built his business empire using a $1 million loan from his father, instead showing that Fred Trump frequently bailed out his son’s failed investments.
“Much of this money came to Mr. Trump because he helped his parents dodge taxes,” the New York Times report noted. “He and his siblings set up a sham corporation to disguise millions of dollars in gifts from their parents, records and interviews show. Records indicate that Mr. Trump helped his father take improper tax deductions worth millions more. He also helped formulate a strategy to undervalue his parents’ real estate holdings by hundreds of millions of dollars on tax returns, sharply reducing the tax bill when those properties were transferred to him and his siblings.”
Donald Trump’s Fortune and Net Worth Built On Fraud and Dodging Taxes, ‘New York Times’ Investigation Says. #DonaldTrump #USPolitics https://t.co/I5JjUdKi8d
— The Inquisitr (@theinquisitr) October 2, 2018
The investigation from New York state would be significant because state charges are not subject to a presidential pardon. The report could also pose significant problems for Trump because Allen Weissenberg, the longtime accountant for the Trump Organization who worked both for Fred and Donald Trump, was granted immunity by federal prosecutors to reveal information about both Trump and his longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.
Donald Trump has not yet responded to the New York Times report, but a spokesperson for the Trump Organization has denied all allegations of fraud and tax evasion.
