The NY fraud trial starts on Monday. The Trumps and the right-wingers are losing their collective minds on social media, saying the judge unfairly values Mar a Largo at $18M and saying it is, of course, worth more. The judge did not create that valuation, Trump did.
If you find yourself in a situation where the facts of this issue matter, here they are:
Trump fought hard in court to have Mar a Largo valued at between $18 and 26M, fighting the higher valuation with appeal.
He forever deed restricted Mar a Largo (to lower the taxes) by:
- making it a club,
- forbidding the ability to make renovations,
- forbidding the ability to subdivide the property, and
- forbidding using it ever as a residence.
These factors gave it the low, low valuation he wanted for property tax purposes. It also makes it worth less than homes in the area, so they can't be compared apples-to-apples. The judge, in his decision, just referenced the value Trump himself had placed on it, the value that Trump had fought hard to place on it.
Trump then used a valuation of $600M on it in his financials that he used to get funding on other projects. That's the crime.
They are also saying there was no victim, because the banks and insurance companies suffered no losses. Under the NY law, that is irrelevant. Trump used inflated financials to obtain lending that then became unavailable to other parties because financial institutions have limited funds to lend. The crime is against the market and the people of NY.
"The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final most essential command."
—1984