News24
25 Sep 2020, 02:11 GMT+10
A New York judge on Wednesday ordered Eric Trump, the president's son most involved with running the family business, to be deposed by 7 October as part of an investigation over charges that the organisation improperly inflated the value of real estate assets.
Letitia James, the Democratic attorney general of New York state who opened the inquiry, has been asking since May to question Eric Trump, 36, who has emerged as the helmsman of the Trump Organisation since his father moved to the White House in early 2017.
Even though Eric Trump has said he was ready to "cooperate" with the inquiry, his lawyers recently asked for the session to be pushed back until after the November elections, arguing that he was too busy, as he is heavily involved in his father's re-election campaign.
The attorney general had challenged that request in a court in the state, asking that Eric Trump be forced to provide documentation on several of the company's properties, including a building on Wall Street and the Trump International Hotel in Chicago.
After a court hearing on Wednesday, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in favour of the attorney general, calling the younger Trump's arguments "unconvincing" and noting that "nor is this Court bound by the timelines of the national election".
"We will immediately move to ensure that Donald Trump and the Trump Organisation comply with the court's order and submit financial records related to our investigation," said James.
"The court's order today makes clear that no one is above the law, not even an organisation or an individual with the name Trump," she said.
READ | Israeli PM always brings dirty laundry to US state visits so White House staff can clean them - report
The investigation is one of several legal proceedings involving Trump and his family.
The attorney general opened the probe in 2019 after the president's former lawyer Michael Cohen, who has since been jailed, testified to Congress that Trump had inflated or under-reported the values of certain properties to secure loans or reduce his taxes.
In another investigation, Trump has been put on notice by Manhattan's attorney general, Cyrus Vance, after failing to provide eight years' worth of accounts.
Despite a decision that went against him in July in the Supreme Court, his lawyers are still fighting in the courts to avoid submitting those documents, and the case could head back to the Supreme Court again.
Get a daily dose of Professional Autos news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Professional Autos.
More InformationREDMOND, Washington: Artificial intelligence is transforming Microsoft's bottom line. The company saved over US$500 million last year...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: A federal rule designed to make it easier for Americans to cancel subscriptions has been blocked by a U.S. appeals...
BASTROP, Texas: In a surprising turn at Elon Musk's X platform, CEO Linda Yaccarino announced she is stepping down, just months after...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Former British prime minister Rishi Sunak will return to Goldman Sachs in an advisory role, the Wall Street...
LONDON, U.K.: Physically backed gold exchange-traded funds recorded their most significant semi-annual inflow since the first half...
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: Some 32 percent of global semiconductor production could face climate change-related copper supply disruptions...
HT Syndication Chengalpattu (Tamil Nadu) [India], July 12: The Department of Mechanical Engineering at SRM Institute of Science and...
Goalpara (Assam) [India], July 12 (ANI): The Assam administration has started a massive eviction drive in the Paikan Reserve Forest...
Pretoria has developed contingency plans to sustain vital services, its health minister has said South African Health Minister Aaron...
As UK summers become hotter, with longer periods of high temperature extremes, the impact will reach far beyond personal discomfort,...
Pyongyang sent troops to help repel Ukrainian invasion in western Russia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov began his three-day...
DAZHOU, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The main body of a bridge of Xi'an-Chongqing high-speed railway over an expressway linking Yingshan and...