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Trump hid over $70 million in losses on D.C. hotel, House panel alleges

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Donald Trump, 5th President, holds a press conference in Bedminster, New Jersey on July 7, 2021.

Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump’s luxury hotel in Washington, D.C., lost more than $70 million from 2016 to 2020, according to newly released confidential filings that his accountants submitted to the hotel’s landlord, the General Services Administration.

Despite the fact that the hotel was in serious financial trouble, Trump’s Annual Financial Disclosures to the Office of Government Ethics revealed publicly the revenues of the hotel, totaling nearly $156.6 Million.

During that time Trump’s accounting firm WeiserMazars LLP made in confidential reports to GSAThe hotel suffered a loss of nearly $73.9 Million.

According to a new report issued Friday by the House Oversight and Government Reform CommitteeThe public was misled about Trump’s finances because of the disparity between his publicly disclosed and private financial information.

Trump spokeswoman did not immediately reply to our Friday request for comments on CNBC’s new report.

Another attempt to hide the real state of Trump’s finances, the committee alleges Trump concealed more than $20,000,000 in loans that his real-estate holding company made the hotel.

The committee stated that the Trump Hotel wasn’t a profitable investment. It was insolvent and required bailouts from Trump’s businesses. wrote in a letter FridayRobin Carnahan (administrator of the General Services Administration), the federal agency responsible for holding the lease on the underlying properties of Trump’s D.C. Hotel, the historic Old Post Office Building at Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Gerry Connelly (D-Va.), respectively, wrote that Trump decided to hide the Trump Hotel’s financial situation from federal ethics officials, as well as the American public.

Trump’s violation of federal regulations regarding disclosure of income or assets is not known. Trump appeared to have adhered to the law’s letter and spirit by reporting his revenues but omitting his losses.

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The committee discovered that Trump had received a surprise loan modification from Deutsche Bank, which was not reported and could potentially have saved him and his failing company millions.

In 2015, Trump was loaned $170 million by the U.S. affiliate of Deutsche Bank to pay for the renovation and operation costs. Trump was required to pay the principal by the term of the loan.

The committee found that the terms of the loan had been changed in 2018 to permit the Trump Hotel deferring any principal payments for six years.

According to the committee, it isn’t clear how and by who the loan modification was reached. Trump’s annual financial disclosures show that the change in loan terms wasn’t made public.

Deutsche Bank’s spokesman did not respond immediately to CNBC’s questions on Friday regarding the modification to loan terms and whether or not any actions were taken to prevent the impression that the president was being treated preferentially.

These new results are consistent with Trump’s long-standing pattern of inflating income, assets, and net worth while concealing losses and liabilities.

This pattern is being investigated by New York State authorities. They are currently investigating whether Trump’s firm inflated his property values on insurance forms and downvalued them in tax returns. It could be insurance fraud.

In New York, the company faces a tax fraud case. It has also ensnared Allen Weisselberg, a long-time Trump employee. In July, Weisselberg pleaded not guilty to a bevy of chargesThis was a result of a reputed decades-long scheme to conceal compensation that he had received from the company.

Trump denied all wrongdoing allegations, accusing instead authorities of subjecting Trump to a “witch hunt” by partisans.

Trump was last removed from the Forbes magazine list of the 400 richest AmericansHe was on the list for 25 years. Forbes estimated that Trump’s $600 million net worth was due to the Covid-19 epidemic, which harmed both commercial real estate as well as hotel industry.

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