Staff Reports
Mazars USA LLP is the target of Donald Trump's attorneys in the ongoing civil fraud trial against the businessman and his real estate organization. The legal team spent Tuesday looking into Mazars' involvement in the financial statement preparation that is at the heart of the lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James. In an attempt to refute the testimony of former Mazars partner Donald Bender, accounting expert Jason Flemmons was called to the witness stand.
The first state lawyer witness, Bender, claimed he had asked for all of the Trump Organization's property appraisals and was shocked to learn that some had not been sent. Flemmons questioned the veracity of this assertion, pointing out that professional accounting standards do not mandate it. Flemmons asserts that assembling financial statements simply requires the paperwork needed to ascertain asset values and that asking for evaluations would be extremely out of the ordinary.
Trump's lawyers focus on outside accountants in civil fraud trial https://t.co/5Gan6zFfX5 pic.twitter.com/IeNff7KbAM
— Cindy Allen (@CindyAl97170037) November 15, 2023
Former SEC employee Flemmons made it clear that neither Mazars nor any other accountant offering compilation services would be required to request appraisals that were not utilized to determine asset valuations. Furthermore, he mentioned Mazars' break with Trump from the previous year, implying that his financial claims are no longer trustworthy.
The state believes that Trump and his executives inflated their fortune by manipulating asset valuations; Trump's legal team wants to refute this charge. Attorney General James wants to stop the defendants from doing business in New York and is pursuing an ill-gotten gain of over $300 million. In an earlier ruling, Judge Arthur Engoron declared that Trump and the other defendants had overstated their asset values and net worth in financial statements, constituting fraud.
According to Trump's defense, any misstatements would be offset by the undervaluation of some assets and the overvaluation of others. Judge Engoron, however, called this reasoning "ridiculous." The defense also emphasized that, from Trump's point of view, his financial statements undervalued some properties, including his residence at Mar-a-Lago. Executives at the Trump Organization, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., stated in their testimony that they depended on Mazars and outside accountants to ensure the accuracy of their financial statements.
The defense is still putting its case forward in this ongoing trial. Trump has continuously denied any misconduct, and his legal staff is assiduously attempting to refute the state's accusations.
