NEW: The New York Attorney General is scrutinising the finances around Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire golf resort as part of her long-running investigation into the Trump Org's "fraudulent or misleading" asset valuations so as to obtain loans and tax breaks. scotsman.com/news/national/…
Letitia James's investigation is dissecting what are known as 'statements of financial condition' filed by Trump and his firm - essentially declarations of worth used in dealings with lenders, insurance firms etc
Until now, her long-running investigation has centred around a handful of Trump's US assets, but this marks the first time any of Trump's overseas properties have emerged as an area of interest to her investigation.
Court filings by her office state that the Trump Org valued Trump International Scotland near Balmedie at £320m in 2014, largely based on its development potential. But here's the thing. That 'potential' was based on the prospect of building 2,500 homes.
Neither the Trump Org nor its UK subsidiaries have ever had approval to build anywhere near that number of properties. It currently has planning permission for 550 homes, and there's no indication of timescales for that development.
The Trump Org valuations cited by the AG in her court filings also sit *very* uneasily compared to documented filings with Companies House here in the UK. In 2014, for example, Trump International Scotland' listed its total assets, less current liabilities, at £29.7m.
Letitia James also points out that in 2017, the Trump Org commissioned an appraisal which suggested that building 557 homes at Aberdeenshire would bring a net profit of between £16m to £18m. Yet that year, Trump's firm valued the undeveloped residential land at £212m.
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