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Banker says Trump’s financial statements were key to loan approvals, but there were ‘sanity checks’
AP ^ | 10/11/2023 | Michael Sisak

Posted on 10/12/2023 1:31:03 PM PDT by thegagline

Donald Trump obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in loans using financial statements that a court has since deemed fraudulent, a retired bank official testified Wednesday at the former president’s New York civil fraud trial.

Trump’s “statements of financial condition” were key to his approval for a $125 million loan in 2011 for his golf resort in Doral, Florida, and a $107 million loan in 2012 for his Chicago hotel and condo skyscraper, former Deutsche Bank risk management officer Nicholas Haigh testified.

But although the bank didn’t conduct its own full appraisals of Trump’s properties, it sometimes gave sizable “haircuts” to the values he’d placed on such holdings as Trump Tower and his golf courses, Haigh said.

“I think the phrase we used might have been ‘sanity checks’ on the numbers,” he said.

***

A judge last month ruled that the former president and his company, the Trump Organization, committed years of fraud by exaggerating the value of Trump’s assets and net worth on the financial statements he gave to banks, insurers and others to make deals and secure loans.

Trump’s longtime finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, acknowledged in testimony Tuesday that information in the financial statements wasn’t always accurate. ***

Trump’s 2011 financial statement listed his net worth as $4.3 billion, though Deutsche Bank pegged it around $2.4 billion in an internal credit report as he sought the Doral loan. The bank knocked 75% off the worth he’d given for planned developments, with the internal document citing “the uncertainty in valuing undeveloped land,” for example. The bankers halved the value he’d listed for his golf courses and had a $94 million difference of opinion over how to account for golf membership deposits among his liquid assets. ***

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: persecution; testimony; trial
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A rational and honest judge would have dismissed the charges against Trump and referred Letitia James to the bar for suspension/disbarment.
1 posted on 10/12/2023 1:31:03 PM PDT by thegagline
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To: thegagline
A rational and honest judge would have dismissed the charges against Trump and referred Letitia James to the bar for suspension/disbarment.

100%

2 posted on 10/12/2023 1:33:19 PM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: thegagline
But although the bank didn’t conduct its own full appraisals of Trump’s properties

So first, who's fault is that and second, I guess nobody knows what the real value was so how can they now say he overvalued properties?

3 posted on 10/12/2023 1:35:23 PM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: 1Old Pro

“A rational and honest judge would have dismissed the charges against Trump and referred Letitia James to the bar for suspension/disbarment.”

And then summoned the large men in white coats to lock her up in a rubber room!


4 posted on 10/12/2023 1:36:09 PM PDT by Taxman (SAVE AMERICA! VOTE REPUBLICAN IN 2023 AND 2024!)
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To: thegagline

+1

5.56mm


5 posted on 10/12/2023 1:36:36 PM PDT by M Kehoe (Quid Pro Joe and the Ho have got to go)
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To: 1Old Pro

IF HE PAID BACK EVERY SINGLE LOAN——

WHY DOES IT MATTER ???


6 posted on 10/12/2023 1:37:40 PM PDT by ridesthemiles
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To: ridesthemiles
IF HE PAID BACK EVERY SINGLE LOAN—— WHY DOES IT MATTER ???

Exactly. Nobody harmed and the banker's profited.

7 posted on 10/12/2023 1:39:14 PM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: thegagline

I don’t Think I know anyone in real estate that did not over inflate the value of a property on transaction’s and under value property for tax payments unless it was in their best interest to do so.


8 posted on 10/12/2023 1:41:08 PM PDT by Liaison (CTANSTAAFL)
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To: ridesthemiles
It does not matter. What matters is the ‘law business’ intends to take Mar-a-Lago away from its rightful owner, kinda like Jezebel took that vineyard for Ahab Somebody wants Mar-a-Lago, hook or crook the law business intends on taking it..
9 posted on 10/12/2023 1:41:36 PM PDT by Just mythoughts (Psalm 2. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?)
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To: thegagline

So the douche bank failed its fiduciary Duty and did not do appraisals?


10 posted on 10/12/2023 1:41:55 PM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up..)
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To: thegagline

Is this the same judge who said Mar-a-Lago’s market value to be about $18 million?


11 posted on 10/12/2023 1:42:49 PM PDT by Beowulf9
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To: thegagline
...financial statements that a court has since deemed fraudulent...

Trump was denied a jury trial. A partisan hack "judge" "deemed" the statements to be fraudulent. A judge has no business "deeming" anything.

12 posted on 10/12/2023 1:47:28 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (The worst thing about censorship is █████ ██ ████ ████████ █ ███████ ████. FJB.)
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To: thegagline

“.. difference of opinion over how to account for golf membership”
This is not fraud. Case closed!


13 posted on 10/12/2023 1:49:09 PM PDT by Fireone (Who killed Obama's chef?)
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To: thegagline

I’m still trying to understand why a private deal between two willing parties, who both agreed on the amount and terms and signed an agreement to such, where all loans were re-paid in full, and no suits nor a dispute of any kind arose between them - is subject to NY Courts at all


14 posted on 10/12/2023 1:49:39 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Trump was denied a jury trial.

There are no jury trials for cases in equity in NY. That is the law. Trump’s lawyers rightfully didn’t challenge this.

15 posted on 10/12/2023 1:53:27 PM PDT by thegagline (Sic semper tyrannis! Goldwater in 2024)
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To: ridesthemiles

Apparently in New York law, it matters not that no one claimed to be damaged by Trump’s business dealings or that all the loans were repaid. It all hinges on ORANGE MAN BAD!!


16 posted on 10/12/2023 1:53:32 PM PDT by hanamizu ( )
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To: thegagline
But although the bank didn’t conduct its own full appraisals of Trump’s properties, it sometimes gave sizable “haircuts” to the values he’d placed on such holdings as Trump Tower and his golf courses, Haigh said.

That’s really a hideous banking practice. Banks need to protect their shareholders by doing full appraisals on all loans. They have a fiduciary responsibility to do so. So who has actually committed fraud in this case? I sense that with a little investigation you would find that Deutsche Bank has been repeatedly lying and cutting corners that had a negative impact of it shareholders. Contrast to the Trump Organization actually repaying their loans and benefiting many in the process.

Deutsche Bank has failed its Federal Reserve stress test and is on the verge of bankruptcy. Perhaps the cause is Deutsche Bank‘s business practices or lack there of.

17 posted on 10/12/2023 1:54:00 PM PDT by ConservativeInPA (Muslims in America must immediately return to their nations of origin to fight Islamic extremism.)
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To: thegagline

So there was no fraud.

“It’s not lying. It’s commercial real estate.”


18 posted on 10/12/2023 1:54:40 PM PDT by struggle
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To: thegagline

The value of real estate isn’t fixed even the point of sale because its value is dependent on what the next fool is willing to pay for it. It’s a guessing game every time because nobody has perfect knowledge.


19 posted on 10/12/2023 1:59:18 PM PDT by wildcard_redneck (The Forever War is a crime against humanity)
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To: thegagline

“...it sometimes gave sizable “haircuts” to the values he’d placed on such holdings as Trump Tower and his golf courses, Haigh said.”

If Trump put his property in the best possible light, and that is fraud, then EVERY company who puts out a commercial on TV has committed fraud.

Plus every woman who wears make-up for a date. The list is endless.


20 posted on 10/12/2023 1:59:33 PM PDT by odawg
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