Three of former US President Donald Trump's children will appear before a New York court starting Wednesday in a financial fraud case that threatens the family's real estate empire, with Trump - who is fighting several other legal battles - to appear at a later date.

According to the upcoming program, this judicial series is expected to begin on Wednesday by hearing from Donald Trump Jr. (45 years old), and will continue on Thursday with his brother Eric (39 years old).

The two brothers together hold the position of acting CEO of the "Trump Organization", which includes several companies that operate skyscrapers, residences, offices, luxury hotels and golf courses around the world. They are accused, like their father, by New York State Attorney General Letitia James of inflating the value of this group's assets by billions of dollars in order to... Obtaining bank loans at the best rates and advantageous insurance terms.

The proceedings of this trial are scheduled to continue, unless an emergency occurs to the program, with the interrogation of Donald Trump (77 years old) on Monday, that is, exactly one year before the date of the presidential elections on November 5, 2024, which Trump hopes to run to return to the White House.

Two days later, his daughter Ivanka will also be heard, although she is not concerned with the fraud charges as she left the group in 2017 to work as an advisor to her father, the president.

Defense plan

The brothers Donald (Jr.) and Eric took over the reins of the Trump Organization after their father assumed the presidency, and they have been involved in family projects and businesses for a long time.

On the political level, the two sons are strong and loyal allies of their father, and they express their support for him daily in the media and social networks.

It is expected that they will not deviate from the plan that the defense has been pursuing since the start of this trial a month ago, and this plan is based on the fact that estimating the value of the assets that make up the family empire, such as the famous Trump Tower in New York, was based on self-printed accounts, but they were honest, and that the banks did not lose anything. In the loans it granted to the Trump Organization.

The former president condemns the trial, which he says is "unfair" and is led by a prosecutor whom he describes as "extremely corrupt," while he accuses Judge Arthur Engoron, who is in charge of broadcasting the file, of being a "rogue" and working on behalf of his Democratic opponents to prevent him from returning to the White House.

Fines

Trump, who regularly attends the sessions of this trial, holds what resembles mini press conferences in the corridors of the court and presents himself as a victim of a judicial scheme targeting him, just as he does in 4 other criminal trials that he is involved in, the most prominent of which relates to his accusation of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential elections, which his Democratic rival Joe won. Biden.

Despite these trials, opinion polls currently give Trump the advantage in the Republican primaries.

In light of his method, the judges decided in several cases to prevent him from personally attacking members of the judiciary or witnesses and to avoid exposing them to pressure. Judge Engoron in the New York trial sentenced him to pay two fines worth 5,000 and 10,000 dollars, which he paid in one lump sum, after he attacked the court clerk.

Trump's attendance at the hearings indicates the importance he attaches to this trial, even though he does not face prison penalties, but it could cause him to lose control of part of his real estate wealth, in addition to a $250 million fine and a ban from operating his companies in New York.

Even before the opening of this trial on October 2, Judge Engoron considered that the public prosecution presented “conclusive evidence that the defendants increased the value of assets between 2014 and 2021 from 812 million to 2.2 billion dollars.”

As a result of these repeated frauds, the liquidation of these companies was ordered, in a decision that amounted to a judicial bomb, but its implementation was suspended before appeal.

The court is also looking into other violations of financial laws, and the amount of the fine requested by the prosecution.

Source: French press