Judge Says Cushman and Wakefield Giant Broker Rules for Donald Trump

A New York judge has determined that Cushman & Wakefield, one of the world’s largest real estate firms, broke its own rules to appease the Trump Organization and the former president’s chronic habits President of the United States is exaggerating the value of his fortune.

Judge Arthur F. Engoron’s surprising assertions were included in his court order Wednesday, in which he formally directed Cushman & Wakefield to turn over the document to the New York attorney general’s office.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is investigating the Trump Organization for what prosecutors have identified as a pattern that inflates the long-term value of golf resorts and buildings in California and New York, as part of a bank and insurance fraud scheme.

At his order, the judge said he personally reviewed sensitive courtroom privacy documents that showed Cushman & Wakefield employees played with — a damning revelation that could make global corporation accused of conspiring with the Trump Organization.

“This court reviewed numerous in-camera documents demonstrating that C&W was inconsistent in its compliance with internal quality control practices when conducting due diligence on behalf of the Trump Organization,” he wrote.

By enforcing AG’s subpoena, Engoron’s court order adds important support to the New York investigation, which is heating up in what could be the final stages of the investigation. Once the investigation is over, James will be able to sue the Trump Organization and others for violating state business laws — and seek permanent closure and monetary damages.

Mr. Engoron added: “OAG is within the objective of investigating C&W’s due diligence activities to determine whether C&W appropriately and accurately disclosed information to other regulators and government agencies.

Sawnie A. McEntire, a Texas attorney representing the real estate services firm, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

During its years-long investigation, the AG’s office amassed hundreds of thousands of documents describing how Trump valued his Trump Tower skyscraper on New York City’s Fifth Avenue. his private golf club and the Seven Springs woods north of the city, and another near Los Angeles.

Several pieces of evidence made public by James in January revealed the absurd lengths to which Trump has inflated his net worth, including one case in which he lied by tripling the size of his apartment. his already gigantic three-story penthouse at Trump Tower. The twice impeached former chairman’s firm repeatedly turned to Cushman & Wakefield to assess the value of those properties.

Investigators say they need more evidence from Cushman & Wakefield to see if the company played fast and loose with other customers. The company declined, claiming that handing over that kind of proprietary data to law enforcement would violate the company’s right to keep them secret.

In court on Monday, AG attorneys detailed how their investigators caught Cushman & Wakefield employees lying in a way that benefits the Trump Organization.

Assistant Attorney General Austin Thompson pointed out how the company’s appraisers routinely shrug off their responsibilities and just default to anything that the Trump company and its outside attorney, Sheri Dillon, want from them. He cites two cases in Los Angeles and Seven Springs where appraisers claimed they had created value assessments based on planned real estate development timelines — with the exception of appraisers. The assessor just fills in the blanks as they have been told.

“In both cases, one Cushman appraiser appears to have created the development timeline and misattributed it to the other,” Thompson told the court Monday.

Thompson says that when investigators searched for the required records from the company, they responded in a “unsophisticated and unwise” manner—running through the documents without any explanation or context. any, leaving lawyers at a loss as to how to categorize the evidence.