By Michael R. Sisak and Jennifer Peltz | Associated Press
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump has said he never thought his yearly financial statements “would be taken very seriously.” But evidence Thursday at his New York civil fraud trial showed the statements were integral to some of his business empire’s loan deals.
A state lawyer showed letters that former Trump company controller Jeffrey McConney sent to a bank, saying he was providing copies of Trump’s 2015 and 2016 financial statements as required under the conditions of a loan for his Seven Springs estate north of New York City.
McConney was the first ex-insider from the Trump Organization to testify at the trial, where New York Attorney General Letitia James is alleging that Trump and his business deceived banks, insurers and others with fraudulent financial statements that vastly overvalued Trump Tower, Mar-a-Lago and other assets.
Trump denies any wrongdoing and says James, a Democrat, is just trying to damage his 2024 presidential campaign. He’s leading the Republican field.
Trump himself didn’t attend the proceedings Thursday, after choosing to be there — and avail himself of the news cameras waiting outside — for the three prior days.
The financial statements went to lenders, insurers and others. Nonetheless, Trump said in pretrial testimony that he never felt the statements “would be taken very seriously,” and that people who did business with him were given ample warning not to trust them.
He described the documents as “a fairly good compilation of properties,” rather than a true representation of their value, and said some numbers were “guesstimates.”
James, however, has said the statements were the crux of “persistent and repeated fraud.”
McConney worked at the Trump Organization from 1987 until this past February and had deep knowledge of all the company’s transactions. At the company’s criminal tax fraud trial last year, McConney admitted…
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