Donald Trump’s businesses facing multiple criminal investigations

A criminal investigation into how a golf course in New York City owned by Donald Trump assessed its property against taxes owed is the latest chapter in a blizzard of litigation facing the former president.

An investigation by Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah into the Trump National Golf Club Westchester focuses on whether officials in the town of Ossining, which includes the location of the Briarcliff Manor club, have been misled about the value of the property, The New York Times reported.

The investigation is separate from a larger investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office into the Trump organization and adds to the legal scrutiny of the former president and his family business.

Ossining assessor Fernando Gonzalez said, according to United States today, that Rocah’s office had requested information on “the gap between claims that the facilities were worth $ 50 million … but for tax purposes they are worth much less.”

News of the golf club investigation comes two months after the Trump Organization successfully cut property taxes at the site 30 miles north of New York City.

A settlement reduced its liabilities by 32 percent between 2015 and 2020 and resulted in property tax refunds of $ 860,965, United States today reported.

The Trump organization said in a statement to Times that any suggestion that it was inappropriate for the club to ask for a reduction in the property tax bill was “completely false and incredibly irresponsible. The witch hunt continues.”

However, the legal hurdles facing the former president and his company continue to grow. The two face a criminal investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office into possible financial and tax irregularities.

In July, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance indicted the Trump Organization and its longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg with tax evasion.

Both have pleaded not guilty.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has investigated Trump’s business relationships, including how the Trump Organization valued his holdings for tax purposes.

The probe came after former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen testified in Congress who said Trump had engaged in fraud. In January 2021, a state court judge ruled that Trump’s tax lawyers were turning over thousands of documents.

In May, the attorney general’s office said that “we are now actively investigating the criminal Trump organizations, along with the Manhattan DA,” according to litigation tracker Just Security.

Meanwhile, Trump’s attempts to overturn Georgia’s election results last year are also the subject of a separate criminal investigation into an attempted election interference by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office.

News week contacted the Trump Organization for comment.