The prosecutor’s initiative is part of her effort to force Donald Trump and their children Donald and Ivanka honor their subpoenas to testify under oath, something the family has asked a judge to block.
Neither Trump nor his children have been charged with crimes. Although James cannot press criminal charges because his investigation is civil, he can sue the Trumps and the company. The former president has called the nearly three-year investigation of James, a Democrat, a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
In documents filed late Tuesday in a New York state court in Manhattan, James described what she called misleading statements about the values of six Trump properties, as well as the “Trump brand.”
The properties are golf clubs in Aberdeen, Scotland, and in suburban Westchester County near New York City; the Seven Springs estate in Westchester, buildings on Wall Street and Park Avenue in Manhattan, and Trump’s penthouse in Trump Tower.
James has been investigating whether property values were inflated to obtain bank loans and reduced to pay less taxes.
His presentation described evidence of false statements to lenders, insurers and the Internal Revenue Service. James wants a judge to order the Trumps to testify within 21 days.