The defendants deny the allegations, and the 2024 Republican presidential front-runner says the values actually were underestimated.
About a decade ago, Trump's companies sought appraisals of two of their properties in New York's suburban Westchester County — the Trump National Golf Club and an estate known as Seven Springs, according to documents and testimony Thursday.At the time, the companies were considering what are known as conservation easements on the properties, according to David McArdle, an appraiser with the commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.
Eric Trump subsequently sent McArdle suggestions of properties to use for comparison, while arguing that none had “close to the amount, quality or kind of amenities” of the Trump course in Briarcliff Manor, New York.As McArdle settled on a value around $45 million, he and lawyers for the Trump company strategized in email about how to present it to their client.
Trump's financial statements went on to list the golf course at values sometimes topping $100 million, according to James' lawsuit. The villas weren't built. Once again, McArdle said, Eric Trump touted the property's attributes to him and suggested a supposedly comparable spread — a Connecticut development where lots sold for as much as $3 million apiece.
When asked about McArdle in pretrial testimony this year, Eric Trump said he only “vaguely” recognized the man's name and didn't recall much, if anything, about the appraisals of Seven Springs or the golf course. Defense lawyer Lazaro Fields, in questioning McArdle, sought to establish that it's not uncommon for owners to talk up their properties' value to appraisers and for their opinions to differ.Both Eric and Donald Trump have attended some of the trial but weren't there Thursday, when the court also heard about a $160 million refinancing loan on a Trump-owned Wall Street office building in 2015.
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