Executives from Deutsche Bank, a primary lender of former President Donald Trump’s, were scheduled to testify on Tuesday in the $250 million lawsuit against the former president.
The case revolves around allegations by New York Attorney General Letitia James that Trump and his business defrauded banks by falsifying bank statements to obtain better terms for loans and insurance.
New York District ​​Judge Arthur Engoron settled the central claim of the lawsuit in a ruling that found that Trump did commit fraud. The rest of the trial will now focus on the remaining six claims, which include allegations of conspiracy, falsifying business records, and insurance fraud.
The trial has already featured testimony from Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump, and now four executives from Deutsche Bank will be testifying over the next two days.
Trump’s lawyers claim the Deutsche Bank executives would still have done business with his organization regardless of the bank statements.
“They’re skipping over the part where they have to establish that the gains are ill-gotten, meaning that the loans would not have been issued in the first place or that the terms would have been different,” stated Trump lawyer Chris Kise in November, according to ABC News.
Dave Williams, managing director of Deutsche Bank, testified that the bank statements do not always need to be completely accurate and said that “an individual’s net worth as reported is largely subjective, or subject to the use of estimates.”
“I think it’s a difference of opinion. We expect clients provide information to be accurate. At the same time, it’s not an industry standard that these financial statements are audited,” he said, per ABC News.
Williams also pushed back on claims by James’ team that Trump could have defaulted on the net worth covenants that were a part of the loans if he had accurately represented his net worth.
He said that the covenants are more of a “guardrail” for the loans and that a default by Trump would have only led the two sides back to negotiations.
“Generally speaking, a payment default is a more material default than a covenant default,” said Williams, as reported by ABC. “It speaks definitively to the repayment of the loan.”
While the former president has already testified in the case, he is expected to once again take the stand on December 11, according to CBS News.
Prosecutors in the case are seeking more than $250 million in damages while also barring Trump from doing business in the state of New York, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
