Trump appeals fraud ruling that strips him of business certificates in New York

Donald Trump filed an appeal against the ruling issued a week ago by Judge Arthur Engoron, in which he determined that the former president committed fraud by inflating both the value of his properties and his net worth.

The Democratic judge ruled that the former president manipulated the costs of his assets to obtain better loan, insurance and tax conditions and ordered the bankruptcy of Trump’s assets, in addition to the cancellation of the former president’s business certificates in New York.

However, the former president denies this, and on Wednesday, he delivered documents in judicial proceedings before the Appeals Division in which he asserts that New York Attorney General Letitia James used “fraudulent” figures, something that several real estate experts seem to agree with.

The judge relied on the price provided by the Palm Beach County Appraiser to say that Trump inflated the value of his property by “at least 2,300 percent” since, according to the appraiser, the Mar-a-Lago house is worth between $18 million and $27.6 million.

However, Florida International University real estate school president Eli Beracha explained to CNN that “appraisal values and market values are just not the same thing.”

Dina Goldentayer, executive director of sales for Douglas Elliman in South Florida, also said that a tax assessor’s appraisal is usually not considered when valuing a property.

According to Goldentayer, to calculate the value of Mar-a-Lago, it would be ideal to hire independent appraisers and take an average of the valuations, giving less importance to the qualification of the tax appraisers and prioritizing that of the real estate agents.

“If that property were on the market today, I would list it at around $300 million, minimum,” said a top real estate broker in Palm Beach, who spoke to the New York Post on condition of anonymity.