Former U.S. President Donald Trump has paid a $ 110,000 fine after being found guilty of “blocking” a major tax evasion investigation run by the New York State judiciary since 2019.
In April, New York’s Supreme Court ordered Trump to pay $ 10,000 a day for refusing to provide accounting and tax documents, as part of State Attorney Leticia James ’civil investigation against the Trump Organization.
“On May 19, Trump paid the attorney general $ 110,000,” a spokeswoman for Leticia James said in an email Friday.
An intense legal battle has been going on for months between the Democratic judge and the Republican billionaire.
On Feb. 17, James appealed to a New York judge who ordered Donald Trump, his son Donald Jr., and son Ivanka to testify under oath as part of this investigation, and appealed the Trump family, who accused James of “political witchcraft.”
The court also requested that certain accounting and tax documents be submitted to the Trump Organization before March 31. After no response from the organization, James asked the New York State Supreme Court to hold Donald Trump accountable for “obstruction ( on investigation) for refusing to comply with a court order ”.
On May 6, however, a New York judge suspended the calculation of the fine days and gave Trump until May 20 to pay the results, equivalent to $ 110,000 over 11 days for the period between April 25 and May. 6.
James’ spokesman said the Trump family must submit written statements Friday about the request for the Trump Organization’s accounting and tax documents.
The source reported that a law firm collected and handed over these documents on Thursday, and the judge now has to decide if the Trump camp has responded to all the requests.
The New York Attorney General suspects that when the Trump Organization requested a bank loan, it was “cheating” to overweight its holdings while underestimating their value to the IRS in order to pay lower taxes.
Consistent with this civil investigation, there was a separate criminal investigation in Manhattan in which the Trump Organization was charged with tax evasion due to possible financial fraud within the Trump Group. The organization and its chief finance officer, Alan Weiselberg, have decided to plead his innocence, and the trial will begin this year.
Source: AFP
Source: Arabic RT
