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Trump Giving Deposition in Fraud Case

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FILE: New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a civil suit against former President Donald Trump and his family for overstating asset valuations and deflating his net worth by billions for tax and insurance benefits. Taken Sept. 9, 2022
FILE: New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a civil suit against former President Donald Trump and his family for overstating asset valuations and deflating his net worth by billions for tax and insurance benefits. Taken Sept. 9, 2022

UPDATED WITH TRUMP ARRIVAL FOR DEPOSITION: NEW YORK - Donald Trump is back in New York Thursday to answer questions in a civil case that accuses the ex-president and three of his children of business fraud.

Trump pumped his fist as he left Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue shortly after 1330 GMT, arriving at James's office in lower Manhattan around 14:00.

"This civil case is ridiculous, just like all of the other Election Interference cases being brought against me," he wrote on his social media site Truth Social.

The 76-year-old Republican was being deposed under oath in the lawsuit brought by New York state attorney general Letitia James, the New York Times reported.

Trump has repeatedly called New York prosecutors who are Black and investigating him "racist."

James sued Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump in September last year alleging they committed "incredible" fraud at the Trump Organization.

Her lawsuit asserts that they lied to tax collectors, lenders and insurers for years in a scheme that routinely misstated the value of Trump's properties to enrich themselves.

James said they provided fraudulent statements of Trump's net worth and false asset valuations "to obtain and satisfy loans, get insurance benefits, and pay lower taxes."

James has requested that Trump pay at least $250 million in penalties - a sum she says he made from the alleged fraud - and that his family be banned from running businesses in the state.

No criminal charges can stem from her case. However, Trump faces a slew of state, federal, and congressional probes that threaten to complicate his bid to regain the presidency.

They include his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state of Georgia, his alleged mishandling of classified documents taken from the White House and his involvement in the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

A civil trial for a sexual assault and defamation lawsuit brought by former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll against Trump is scheduled to start in New York later this month.

voaafrica.com will update this story as developments take place.

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