NY Attorney General Alleges, Ivanka Trump’s Penthouse Was Valued at Double The Price Option Offered

The New York Attorney General is suing Donald Trump for $250 million in civil fraud, and this week's trial evidence focused on the alleged worth of his daughter Ivanka Trump's Park Avenue apartment. According to the New York Post, Donald Bender, Trump's former accountant at Mazars, was questioned by the attorney general's office regarding the cost of a penthouse condominium for Trump's daughter. Bender said that he did not work for the Trump Organization to conduct an audit of Trump's financial statements, but that "from time to time" he would flag up problems to Trump organization personnel.

When Ivanka had the opportunity to purchase a penthouse unit at Trump Park Avenue, he remembered raising a red flag. According to Bender, the amount mentioned on Trump's financial schedule does not match the value in Ivanka's option, per CNN. Bender said that he recalled adjusting the asset value twice. Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and the Trump Organization, alleging that between 2011 and 2021, they inflated the real estate mogul's net worth to get more favorable loan and insurance conditions.

The complaint claims that despite a $8.5 million purchase option in the lease, Ivanka Trump's Trump Park Avenue apartment was valued at $20.8 million on financial documents in both 2011 and 2012. She could have bought the place for a price "substantially below the market rent for similar units in the building," as the lawsuit puts it.

The trial, which began on Monday and is anticipated to continue until late December, lists Ivanka as a witness, along with the three other Trump family members involved in the case. As per the lawsuit, "Ms. Trump’s rental agreement for Penthouse A in Trump Park Avenue included an option to purchase the unit for $8,500,000. But in the 2011 and 2012 Statements of Financial Condition, this unit was valued at $20,820,000—approximately two and a half times as much as the option price, with no disclosure of the existence of the option."

Judge Arthur Engoron ruled last week that Trump and his named associates had overvalued several of the former president's properties, including his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, and his triplex in Manhattan at the Trump Tower, for financial gain, and the ongoing trial will determine the remaining allegations, per Newsweek.

Although she was originally identified as a defendant with her father, his older sons, and other acquaintances, Ivanka was placed as a witness in the prosecution case in court files before the trial. The claims against Ivanka were "accrued prior to...February 2016," according to the court order filed on June 27 of this year, and she was not a part of the 2021 tolling agreement between the New York Attorney General and the Trump Organization that extended the period of statutory limitations on the claims.