New York AG sues Donald Trump, company and family members over widespread fraud claims,

(NEW YORK, NY) BREAKING NEWS: New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed suit against former President Donald Trump, three of his adult children and his business empire, accusing them of large-scale fraudulent financial practices and seeking to bar them from real estate transactions for the next five years.

The attorney general’s civil suit alleges decades of deception, including billions of dollars in falsified net worth, as part of an effort to minimize his companies’ tax bills while winning favorable terms from banks and insurance companies.

James’s suit relies on a special statute for repeat instances of alleged violations of the law, stemming from real estate transactions. She is also filing a criminal referral to federal prosecutors in Manhattan and a separate tax fraud referral to the IRS for the same underlying allegations.

The suit seeks about $250 million in allegedly illegal profits netted from the scheme, as well as a five-year ban on the former president, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump participating in any real estate transactions—a restriction that would spell the end of the Trump real estate empire.

James’ suit also seeks a permanent ban on the former president and his family members involved in his business enterprises from serving as directors or officers of any New York corporation or business licensed in the state.

“I’m announcing that today we’re filing a lawsuit against Donald Trump for violating the law as part of his efforts to generate profits for himself, his family, his company,” James said, as she announced the action at a press conference in Manhattan Wednesday morning. “The complaint demonstrates that Donald Trump falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself and to cheat the system, thereby cheating all of us.”

“The pattern of fraud that was used by Mr. Trump and the Trump organization was astounding,” James added.

Trump’s attorneys in the probe did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump has repeatedly asserted that James, a Democrat running for a second term in November, is on a political vendetta, noting that during her 201 8 campaign for AG she repeatedly vowed to pursue legal action against Trump and said he should be “scared” if she was elected. During her campaign, James promised to target Trump for investigation and told voters her election would bring pressure on him similar to that posed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.