According to several reports of it I just read, the fine amount was based on how much they estimated he benefited from overvaluing his assets, not based on any sort of formula that is tied to his net worth, or equity in those properties. They estimated how much he overvalued his assets, but you don’t have to know equity amounts in order to do that. If the claimed value is significantly greater than a property is worth at 100% equity ownership, there’s no need to look further.
As I said, if you can provide any evidence that they actually looked into equity ownership, which was not needed to perform the analysis they conducted, I’ll gladly concede the point. But until then, there’s no evidence they did, or needed to.
Citing an extensive analysis by valuation and accounting experts, James' office found that Trump's net worth in any given year between 2011 and 2021 was overstated by $1.9 billion to $3.6 billion.
(“Trump overstated net worth by up to $3.6 billion each year, NY attorney general alleges in new filing” — CNBC.com; PUBLISHED FRI, SEP 8 2023 9:38 AM EDT; UPDATED FRI, SEP 8 2023 1:12 PM EDT)
OK — So I will ask this question (rhetorically) one last time …
How the hell does the State of New York know he overstated his net worth if it didn’t know his equity stake in the properties they would need to establish his net worth?