Trump Criminal Probe Expands: Report Says Prosecutors Looking At Trump Tower, Other Loans

Topline

New York state prosecutors are investigating more than $250 million in loans former President Donald Trump took out on some of his best-known Manhattan properties, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday, the latest expansion of a years-old criminal probe into the Trump Organization that has reportedly grown more intense in recent months.

Key Facts

Big Number

$257 million. That’s the total value of the four loans made by Ladder Capital to Trump, all of which are due in the next five years, according to public documents reviewed by Forbes last year (the Journal found the loans were worth $282 million). These loans are part of the more than $1 billion in debt owed by Trump across his real estate empire.

Key Background

The Manhattan DA first began scrutinizing Trump over a year ago, focusing on an alleged hush money payment to pornstar Stormy Daniels. But the investigation has grown into a wider probe of what Vance’s office described as “possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct” at Trump’s business, including allegations of insurance and bank fraud, posing an enduring threat to Trump’s post-presidential life. This work has apparently become more intense in recent months: Prosecutors have fought to secure years of Trump’s tax returns, reportedly interviewed his former business partners, looked into the Trump family’s property in Westchester County, N.Y., and reportedly hired forensic accountants to comb through his business’s financial records. Vance’s office still has not filed any criminal changes.

Tangent

In addition to Vance’s probe, Trump is facing several other unrelated legal challenges across multiple states. New York Attorney General Letitia James is conducting a civil investigation into the Trump Organization’s financial practices, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine is suing the Trump Organization over alleged misuse of donors’ funds during the 2017 inauguration, and prosecutors in Georgia are reportedly investigating a phone call in which Trump told state election officials to “find” enough votes for him to win the state.

Chief Critic

Trump has intensely criticized these state-level investigations, arguing they’re meritless and politically motivated. Last year, he and his lawyers cast Vance’s probe as an overly broad “witch hunt” with little firm evidence of wrongdoing.

Further Reading

New York Prosecutors Investigating Trump’s Manhattan Properties (Wall Street Journal)

Donald Trump Has At Least $1 Billion In Debt, More Than Twice The Amount He Suggested (Forbes)

Manhattan D.A. Intensifies Investigation of Trump (New York Times)