Deutsche Bank handed over “detailed files” on Trump after subpoena from New York prosecutor: report

New York attorneys search for President Donald Trump’s tax documents last year, Deutsche Bank subpoenaed, which handed over “detailed records” on the president’s finances, according to a new report.

Deutsche Bank was Trump’s main lender for decades after other mainstream banks refused to do business with his company following a series of bankruptcies and defaults, lending him more than $ 2 billion over the past 20 years.

The Germany-based bank complied with the subpoena and provided Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance with “detailed records” over a “period of several months”, including financial statements and other documents that Trump provided to the bank when he applied for loans, The New York Times reported.

Vance also requested Trump’s tax returns as part of an investigation that, at least initially, appeared to focus on silence of Trump’s money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal, both of whom have claimed to have had affairs with the president.

But Vance’s office said in a filing in court this week that the investigation is much broader, citing “public reports of potentially extended and prolonged criminal conduct at the Trump Organization.” Prosecutors have suggested they are also investigating crimes related to bank fraud and insurance.

Michael Cohen, longtime former Trump fixer, who pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges arising from hidden money payments and other federal crimes, testified in Congress last year who had inflated its assets when seeking loans from the bank, but had deflated its assets when filing documents with the tax authorities.

The New York Times reported last year that Deutsche Bank officials routinely viewed Trump’s financial statements as “wildly optimistic assumptions” and generally reduced its estimates by up to 70%.

The bank summons suggests the investigation pushed beyond hidden cash payments for some time, although a source knowledgeable about the matter told The Times that the investigation was still at “one point”. early stage “.

Vance has been trying to get Trump’s personal and corporate tax records since last fall. Asset attempted to claim “absolute immunity” criminal investigations during his tenure, but the Supreme Court rejected that argument last month.

The Supreme Court ruling sent the case back to the lower courts, where Trump’s lawyers have kept trying to push back on Vance’s summons. Trump and his company have denied any wrongdoing.

The separate Deutsche Bank subpoena requested documents on “various matters” related to Trump and the Trump Organization, including “possible fraud,” according to the Times.

The documents obtained under the subpoena, as well as any tax documents the prosecutor may obtain from Trump, are subject to the rules of grand jury secrecy and would not be made public unless the case goes to trial and prosecutors present the documents as evidence.

Bank fraud is difficult to prove in court, the report notes, and some of the Insurance and banking problems raised in media reports may go beyond the limitations.

Carey Dunne, an attorney in the attorney’s office, told a federal judge last month that Trump’s continued backtracking on the subpoena after the Supreme Court ruling was an attempt to drag the case out so that the statute of limitations for other potential crimes expires.

“What the president’s lawyers are looking for here is delay,” Dunne said. “I think that’s the whole strategy here.”

Dunne told the judge the full investigation was at a standstill as prosecutors still had not obtained the tax records.

“It has been almost a year since we served our subpoena, and this lawsuit has been very successful since then in delaying our ability to gather the central evidence,” Dunne said, adding that it was “to increasingly likely that the grand jury will be prevented from evaluating evidence before the statute of limitations expires.