No One is Above the Law Including AG Letisha James
Mortgage Fraud Indictment is Ironic
The phrase "No one is above the law" was often the refrain from New York Attorney General Letisha James when celebrating her persecution of Donald J Trump. She even addressed the topic of mortgage fraud directly, "When powerful people cheat to get better loans, it comes at the expense of hardworking people. Everyday Americans cannot lie to a bank to get a mortgage, and if they did, our government would throw the book at them. There simply cannot be different rules for different people." Thus her recent indictment on October 9th by a Federal Grand Jury in Virginia for one court of mortgage fraud and one count of false statements to a financial institution is so ironic. While James has denied wrong doing, there appears to be a long pattern of false statements involving mortgage loans beginning in 1984 when she listed her father as her spouse in obtaining her first mortgage.
Her long history of making false statements on mortgage documents has been well documented by Eddie Antar via his website, Whitecollarfraud.com. Mr. Antar was the former chief financial officer of Crazy Eddie, a major electronics chain in the northeast back in the eighties. He was involved in one of the largest securities fraud schemes and later worked for the government involving the investigation of financial fraud. His website has documented false information contained on twenty years worth of mortgage documents filed by Letisha James. He has established that Ms. James has falsely classified a five unit building in Brooklyn, NY as a four unit building even though the certificate of occupancy lists it as five units. Ms. James has owned the building for over 20 years. Her financial disclosure documents filed with New York state have significant discrepancies all of which were signed under the penalty of perjury and involve multiple properties. These false statement have resulted in more favorable mortgage terms and interest rates. In terms of intent, Ms. James can hardly claim that these discrepancies were clerical or harmless errors.
Letisha James ran on a platform to get Donald Trump whom she referred to as an "illegitimate President" while running for New York Attorney General. Many of her comments were highly prejudicial and beyond inappropriate. During an interview with NBC News she stated, "We will use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions and that of his family as well. We want to investigate anyone in his orbit who has, in fact, violated the law". She went on the say, Donald Trump's days of defrauding Americans are coming to an end, We can spot a carnival barker." She promised to "shine a light into every dark corner of his real estate dealings, and every dealing". These comments were made without any direct knowledge of any criminal conduct or wrong doing by President Donald Trump or any of his companies. Her long history of bias and hostility against Trump is well documented in a bar complaint filed in February by New York Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY).
In September, 2022, she filed a civil action again the Trump Organization alleging Trump falsely valued assets to obtain favorable loans, lower insurance and interest costs. Her effort to contort a New York consumer fraud statute using a novel legal theory was without question motivated by her desire to get Trump. This was first time an Attorney General used this statute to go after a business entity without a victim who suffered a financial loss resulting from fraud. The banks made a lot of money and testified that they wanted to continue lending to the Trump Organization who actually told banks to perform their own due diligence in verifying his fiscal statements prior to granting any loans. Looking at her history of prejudicial statements, her promise to get Trump, the novel nature of the case and no victim, how can any reasonable person conclude otherwise. The Judge in the case, Judge Engoran made an absurd determination that the Mar Logo estate in Florida was only worth $18-27.6 million based on the assessment by the county assessor's office. This was contrary to the average selling price of much smaller parcels selling for tens of millions and an estimated sales price of $500 million for Mar Logo in December 2023. Yet the Judge Engoran found the Trump organization liable for fraud and fined Mr. Trump an astonishing $354 million increasing to $500 million with interest. The lack of any proportionality further calls into question the motivating factor which was always to get Trump. In August, a New York appeals court overturned the penalty but kept intact the finding. As expected, Ms. James appealed the ruling.
The indictment speaks for itself. Her 2023 mortgage filing on the Virginia property specified that it would be her primary residence, however her federal tax return claimed rental income from the same property. This is same crime that everyday Americans get indicated for, Letisha James is no different. The only difference is she believes she is entitled to be treated differently and can treat others unfairly. This case sends a message that no one is above the law and all must be treated equally. This is justice.