Trump accountant testified before NY grand jury in criminal investigation, sources say
Prosecutors at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Cy Vance also recently met with current and former Deutsche Bank employees, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. Those employees were asked about the representations that Trump organization officials gave to the bank, which has loaned the company hundreds of millions of dollars over the years.
According to the Post, one of those former employees was Rosemary Vrablic, Trump’s top financial adviser at the German lender. Prosecutors asked Vrablic during their interview, not before a grand jury, about Trump’s part in banking transactions, one person told the newspaper.
Vrablic’s attorney did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Reported appearances by Bender and Vrablic show that prosecutors focused on outside financial advisers to Trump as they worked to gather information about his business dealings. Investigators are probing whether the Trump Organization provided inaccurate financial statements on asset values when seeking funding and tax assessments, CNN reported.
A spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment to CNN. Representatives for the Trump Organization could not be reached for comment, but the organization has previously called the investigation a politically motivated witch hunt.
Mazars told CNN in a statement that “due to professional obligations in our industry, Mazars is unable to discuss any client — current or former, the status of our relationships or nature of our services in a public forum without our customers’ consent or as required by law.We remain committed to all of our professional and legal obligations we. “
Vance’s investigation, which began in earnest in August 2019, includes allegations by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen that the Trump Organization inflated assets when it sought loans and reduced them. when it’s time to pay taxes. CNN previously reported that investigators interviewed Cohen at least eight times, and that investigators were looking into multiple loans the Trump Organization took out, including those from Deutsche Bank and Ladder Capital.
The investigation included Trump Tower, the family estate known as Seven Springs, the hotel and the apartment tower in Chicago.
Prosecutors moved the investigation to off-the-books compensation this spring, and Bender appeared before a grand jury around that time, the people said. Prosecutors announced an indictment against the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, on tax fraud allegations related to off-the-books compensation in July. The company and Weisselberg have pleaded not guilty.
The sources said the focus of the investigation has shifted back to the accuracy of the financial statements and notes over the past few months.
Lenders like Deutsche Bank are sophisticated and often perform their own analyses.
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