The prosecution presents evidence that Trump inflated the value of his properties to obtain benefits

Former President Donald Trump, at a rally in Tampa, Florida, in late October 2021. JONATHAN ERNST (Reuters)

The attempt by Donald Trump's lawyers to prevent the declaration under oath of the former president and two of his children in the case of tax fraud in their businesses that the New York prosecutor is instructing has backfired. The state attorney general, Letitia James, has countered with a 160-page report stating that the former president's companies, grouped under the Trump Organization brand, inflated the value of the group's properties to obtain benefits from banks, lenders, investors and insurance companies. The fraud dates back to operations carried out between 2004 and 2020 (the last four years, with the Republican in the White House and the emporium in the hands of his eldest sons).

With this report, released this midnight by newspapers such as

and

and picked up by the rest of the local media, Democrat James adds arguments to the civil case that the State Attorney's Office is pursuing against Trump, who has repeatedly described it as a "politically motivated witch hunt." Although members of James' team have uncovered evidence that the Trump Organization submitted "fraudulent or misleading" asset valuations to obtain loans and tax benefits, state authorities have not yet decided whether to file a lawsuit in connection with these allegations, but they do confirm that investigators want to question Trump and his children Ivanka and Donald Junior as part of the process. The appearance of the former president, in person and under oath, was scheduled for January 7. Their offspring were cited later.

In the most detailed report of the prosecution to date, there is evidence that the Trump company exaggerated the value of assets to obtain favorable loan conditions, or misrepresented the value of land to reduce the amount of its tax contribution. The file cites specific examples, such as fattening the value of land donations made in New York and California in documents submitted to the IRS (US Treasury Department) to justify several million dollars in tax deductions.

On the tycoon's mansion in Manhattan, a luxurious

, the accounting

of the Trump Organization multiplied by three its real size, with a difference in its favor of almost 200 million dollars, according to the report, which cites the statement of the Trump's chief financial officer for decades, Allen Weisselberg. The manager was accused last year of tax fraud in a parallel criminal investigation instructed in his day by the Manhattan prosecutor Cyrus Vance and that today his successor, Alvin Bragg, continues. Weisselberg is so far the sole head of the disgraced Trump Organization, and is seen by many as a scapegoat, or firewall, who has so far held back the indictment of hard-core members of the company: the Trump family.

The disclosure of the report seeks to corroborate the judicial movement to force Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr. to testify under oath. The tycoon's emporium has rejected this new story of irregularities as "unfounded". "The only one misleading public opinion is Letitia James," the Trump Organization said in a statement. "Three years later, [James] is faced with the harsh reality that he has no case."

The tycoon's lawyers have tried to block the subpoenas to testify of the three Trumps, calling them "unconstitutional and unprecedented maneuver."

They fear that James is trying to obtain testimony that could be used in the Manhattan District Attorney's parallel criminal investigation.

At the end of December, Trump himself, who has not yet cleared up the mystery about his candidacy for re-election in 2024, sued James to stop the process.

Subscribe here to the EL PAÍS América newsletter and receive all the key information on current affairs in the region