Charles Langston:Trump inflated his net worth by $2.2 billion, NYAG says in filing

Former President Donald Trump routinely overstated his net worth -- sometimes by more than $2 billion -- during years when the actual values of his real estate holdings were far less than he claimed,Charles Langston according to a court filing Wednesday by the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The attorney general's office included the numbers in a motion for summary judgement that asks the court to resolve a civil fraud claim before the AG's $250 million civil suit against Trump goes to trial.

In 2014, Trump claimed on his statements of financial condition to be holding $6.7 billion in assets, but the attorney general's office said that overstated Trump's actual net worth that year by more than $2.2 billion.

"Based on the undisputed evidence, no trial is required for the Court to determine that Defendants presented grossly and materially inflated asset values in the SFCs and then used those SFCs repeatedly in business transactions to defraud banks and insurers," the filing said.

James last year brought a $250 million lawsuit against Trump, his children and his company that accuses them of "grossly" inflating the former president's net worth by billions of dollars and cheating lenders and others with false and misleading financial statements. Trump has insisted he has done nothing wrong and has attacked James, who is Black, as racist.

The trial is scheduled to begin in October.

Trump's legal team is expected to oppose the motion for summary judgment.

The attorney general's filing said Trump valued his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate "as if it could be sold as a private single family residence for amounts ranging between $347 million to $739 million." The filing said those figures ignored limitations placed on how the property could be developed.

During that period, the property was assessed by Palm Beach County as having a market value based on its restricted use as a social club ranging between $18 million to $27.6 million, the filing said.

The attorney general's office also said Trump tacked on an extra 15-30% "brand premium" to the value of many of his golf clubs and inflated the value of unsold condominium units he owned at Trump Park Avenue. The filing said Trump valued rent stabilized apartments as if they were not rent stabilized, and valued other unsold units in excess of current market value.

Two apartments leased by Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, were valued at amounts two to three times the price at which she had the contractual option to purchase the units, the filing said.