Wall Street Journal
Officials are investigating loans the former president took on four buildings, including his flagship Trump Tower
Prosecutors are examining loans Mr. Trump took out on Trump Tower and other buildings.
PHOTO: MARK LENNIHAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York prosecutors are investigating financial dealings around some of Donald Trump’s signature Manhattan properties, extending the known range of the criminal probe of the former president and his company, according to people familiar with the matter.
The people said Manhattan prosecutors are examining loans Mr. Trump took out on his flagship Fifth Avenue building, Trump Tower; 40 Wall St., an art deco skyscraper in New York City’s Financial District; Trump International Hotel and Tower, a hotel and condominium building at Columbus Circle; and Trump Plaza, an apartment building on Manhattan’s East Side.
All of the loans under scrutiny were made to Mr. Trump by subsidiaries of Ladder Capital Corp. LADR 1.76% , a New York City-based real-estate investment trust, the people said. Since 2012, Ladder Capital has lent Mr. Trump more than $280 million for the four Manhattan buildings, according to property records.
Lawyers for Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization declined to comment. Mr. Trump has called the probe a partisan “witch hunt” led by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. , a Democrat. Mr. Trump’s lawyers have called the investigation a “fishing expedition” in Mr. Vance’s bid to get the former president’s tax returns.
Mr. Vance’s office has said in court filings that it is pursuing a complex investigation into alleged insurance and bank fraud by the Trump Organization and its officers.
Prosecutors’ examination of Mr. Trump’s Manhattan properties comes as Mr. Vance’s office is locked in a legal battle for the former president’s tax returns and other financial information. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this past July that Mr. Trump’s accounting firm was required to hand over the records. Mr. Trump appealed that ruling a second time, on different grounds, but the high court hasn’t said if it would hear the case, leaving Mr. Vance’s subpoena in limbo.
While the focus of prosecutors’ interest in Mr. Trump’s properties and loans isn’t known, they could be looking for discrepancies between loan documents and financial information submitted elsewhere by Mr. Trump, such as that on tax returns or submitted to an insurance company, legal experts said. Writing false information on a loan application with the intention of getting financial benefits one isn’t entitled to can be a crime under New York law, according to legal experts.
In addition to the Manhattan properties, prosecutors are examining Seven Springs, a 213-acre Westchester, N.Y., estate owned by the Trump Organization. At that property, prosecutors have subpoenaed information that relates to its valuation, which has varied widely.
The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James has said it is conducting a separate civil-fraud investigation into properties including 40 Wall St. and the Seven Springs estate. The Trump Organization has said that the investigation of Ms. James, a Democrat, is motivated by politics.
Ladder typically makes loans, and then sells the debt to other investors in the form of commercial mortgage-backed securities. Jack Weisselberg, the son of Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, works at Ladder. Jack Weisselberg didn’t respond to a request for comment. He hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing.
Mr. Trump turned to Ladder for a $100 million loan in 2012 for Trump Tower, property records show, the dark 58-floor Midtown Manhattan tower where Mr. Trump’s business is based and where he announced his presidential campaign. Mr. Trump has also lived in a three-story penthouse in the building.
In 2014, according to property records, Mr. Trump took out a $15 million loan from Ladder for Trump Plaza, a building with co-op apartments and retail space.
Ladder in 2015 lent Mr. Trump $160 million for 40 Wall St., a 71-story lower Manhattan skyscraper with a distinctive green spire. The property has a ground lease, meaning Mr. Trump owns the building but pays rent to the German family that owns the land.
The next year, Mr. Trump took out a $7 million mortgage from Ladder for Trump International Hotel and Tower, which sits near the southwest corner of Central Park.
The refinancings led to significantly lower interest rates for at least 40 Wall St. and Trump International. The earlier 40 Wall St. loan had a 5.71% interest rate, compared with 3.665% after refinancing, according to Mr. Trump’s public financial disclosure.
The Trump Tower loan comes due in 2022 and others are due in the next several years, his disclosures say.
Write to Corinne Ramey at [email protected] and Emily Glazer at [email protected]
