A financial watchdog in former President Donald Trump’s $250 million civil fraud trial on Wednesday informed the judge presiding over the case of about $40 million in previously unreported cash transfers.
In an letter updating Judge Arthur Engoron on her work, Barbara Jones — a retired federal judge whom Engoron appointed as a monitor of financial activity at the Trump Organization — said there have been some violations, but that overall the Trump Organization continues to cooperate and is generally in compliance with the court orders.
Defendants were required to report any cash transfers amounting to more than $5 million. Jones said her team requested and conducted a review of bank statements for 12 bank accounts from January through October this year, and there were three cash transfers exceeding $5 million, totaling approximately $40 million, including a transfer of $29 million to Donald Trump used for tax payments.
“We have discussed with defendants why these were not disclosed and I have now clarified (and defendants have agreed) that all transfers out of the trust exceeding $5 million must be reported,” Jones wrote.
Jones said that her team requested and reviewed financial information in connection with the sale of the Trump Organization’s license to operate Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, the loan payoff for the Trump Tower in Chicago, the Conservation Easement tax filing for Trump National Doral Miami, and Trump Media and Technology Group Corporation (Truth Social).
Relevant tax returns for six trust entities were not promptly disclosed, Jones said, during a reporting period that required defendants to provide the monitor with financial information reported to third parties, including select tax returns for certain trust entities. But upon her request, defendants provided the tax returns and “acknowledged that their exclusion was an oversight,” Jones wrote.
Defendants have agreed to enhanced monitoring given the matters described in this report and “have committed to ensure that all required information is promptly disclosed to the monitor,” she added.
Jones also noted her previous report in August which found that financial disclosures were either incomplete or inconsistent. But she said she has since observed that the company has taken steps to resolve the issues subject to ongoing monitoring. In that report, Jones had detailed issues of incompleteness in some Trump Organization disclosures.
Trump’s lead attorney Chris Kise did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The former president is set to testify in his own defense next month in his ongoing civil fraud trial, his attorneys said in court Monday. The former president will be the defense’s last witness, on Dec. 11, Kise said.
Trump and his adult sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., have testified in the case. Eric Trump is scheduled to testify again Dec. 6, Kise said.
The trial stems from a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office against the Trump family and the Trump Organization in connection with her years-long civil investigation into the company’s business practices. The lawsuit alleges years of bank, tax, and insurance fraud.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
