For Trump it is getting serious: Investigations against "Trump Organization" now also criminal case

Donald Trump is now facing further criminal investigations into his organization.

The New York Attorney General is expanding the investigation.

New York - When ex-President Donald Trump thinks of New York, he should now be in a good mood.

Because the investigations of the New York attorney general Letitia James against the "Trump Organization" are getting more intense.

It is now a criminal investigation into Trump's business empire - the previous civil investigation will be expanded.

A spokesman for the New York attorney general said according to US media reports on Tuesday evening (local time).

"We have informed the 'Trump Organization' that our investigations against the organization are no longer of a purely civil nature," said spokesman Fabien Levy.

The business activities of ex-President Donald Trump are bundled in the group of companies.

It is a holding company made up of hundreds of individual companies from hotels to golf courses.

Investigations against Donald Trump organization now criminal investigation - why is unclear

The attorney general is now working with Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., who has been conducting a criminal investigation against the company and executives since 2018.

At first it was only about hush money payments to two women who say they had previously had affairs with Donald Trump.

He denies that.

In the meantime, however, Vance is also pursuing suspicions of tax evasion and banking and insurance fraud.

Since March 2021, he has also had the tax returns of the former Republican president, which have been withheld for a long time.

Both prosecutors are Democrats.

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Not good news for Donald Trump, ex-US President: Investigations against him become a criminal investigation (archive image)

© Patrick Semansky / dpa

James' office did not provide any further explanation as to the reason for the change in the investigation.

The explosive thing about it: So far, the threat to Trump from the investigation by New York's attorney general has only seemed financial, as

reported by

the

Washington Post

.

But now James could also apply for criminal penalties.

"Trump Organization": manipulated assets?

There is no official statement from Trump on the latest developments

The investigation is, among other things, about whether the organization and its employees have manipulated assets, i.e. inflated them in some cases and minimized them in others in order to secure cheap loans or to obtain tax advantages.

There was initially no official statement from the “Trump Organization”.

But Trump himself and his representatives denied misconduct earlier - the investigations were unfounded and politically motivated.

The

Washington Post

received from Eric Trump, Donald Trump's son and an important figure in the "Trump Organization", instead of a statement, a cut video of speeches by Attorney General James - especially from 2018 - in which she criticized Trump and promised his Questioning politics and scrutinizing one's business.

(cibo)

List of rubric lists: © Patrick Semansky / dpa