Trump liable for golf resort's 'false valuation', court rules

A judge has ruled that Donald Trump and his company are liable for the "false valuation" of the former president's golf course in Aberdeenshire.

The detail is part of a New York Supreme Court ruling that Mr Trump "repeatedly" misrepresented his wealth by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Financial statements in the United States claimed the controversial course at Menie had permission to build more residential homes than was the case.

Mr Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

New York Attorney General Letitia James' civil action against Mr Trump, his two adult sons and the Trump Organization accuses them of lying about his net worth and values of assets around the world between 2011 and 2021.

Ms James claimed the defendants issued false business records and financial statements in order to get better terms on bank loans and insurance deals, and to pay less tax.

This is denied by the defendants with Mr Trump calling the case another political "witch hunt" brought by a prosecutor biased against him.

Mr Trump opened his controversial golf course on the Menie estate in Aberdeenshire in 2012.

The original proposal included approval for a 450-room hotel, 950 holiday apartments, 36 'golf villas' and 500 houses for sale but none of these have been built so far.

The civil case is due to go to trial next month but Justice Arthur Engoron has ruled on part of the claim ahead of this in a move known as summary judgement.

In the 35-page ruling, Justice Engoron includes the controversial original course at Menie.

Using a Statement of Financial Conditions (SFCs) submitted by the Trump Organization between 2014 and 2019, the Attorney General had argued they showed a value for the Aberdeenshire course that was based on inaccurate planning permissions.

After scaling back the resort's original housing plans, Aberdeenshire Council gave outline permission for 500 residential homes and 50 "leisure/resort units" at Menie in September 2019.

The US court documents state that Trump's 2019 SFC, finalised a month later, has a value for the resort on the basis that 2,035 private residential homes could be developed there.

New York's Attorney General had argued that if the values reflected the homes which have planning permission then it would be £164.1m less than what is stated.

Mr Trump's lawyers disputed this, arguing the golf resort was undervalued, but this was dismissed by Justice Engoron who concluded the Attorney General "has demonstrated liability for the false valuation of Aberdeen as appears in the SFCs from 2014 to 2019."

Mr Trump is still seeking to delay the trial in New York and has also sued the judge.

An appeals court is set to rule this week on that lawsuit. If it rules against him, Mr Trump will have to fight out the rest of the case in court.

In a statement, Mr Trump's lawyers said Justice Engoron's decision ignored "basic legal, accounting and business principles".

The construction of a second golf course at President Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire resort has been given the go-ahead despite environmental concerns.