Ivanka Trump and Donald Jr. knew they were lying when they were trying to sell off condos at their family's SoHo building back in the late 2000s, dramatically increasing sale figures in a bid to lure in more buyers, a new book claims.
The siblings effectively tripled the percentage of units that had been sold, with Ivanka saying 60 percent and Don Jr. claiming 55 percent were gone. In reality, only 15 percent had been sold by the end of 2009, according to various reports.
They both were nearly charged with felony fraud for the misleading statements, but the criminal case was dropped after the prosecutor was visited by the Trump family attorney.
Now, new book American Oligarchs: The Kushners, The Trumps And The Marriage Of Money And Power by Andrea Bernstein, which was first obtained by the Guardian, revisits the scandal and describes emails that offer even more alleged proof of the Trumps' willful deception.
Bernstein writes the emails 'showed a coordinated, deliberate and knowing effort to deceive buyers.'
Ivanka Trump and Donald Jr. knew they were lying when they were trying to sell off condos at their family's SoHo building back in the late 2000s, dramatically increasing sale figures in a bid to lure in more buyers, a new book claims. Pictured: Trump, Eric, Ivanka and Don Jr. at the ribbon cutting for Trump SoHo in April 2010
The siblings effectively doubled the percentage of units that had been sold, with Ivanka saying 60 percent and Don Jr. claiming 55 percent were gone. In reality, only 15 percent had been sold by the end of 2009
She continues in the book: 'In one email, the Trumps discussed how to coordinate false information they had given to prospective buyers. Because the sales levels had been overstated at the beginning of the sales process, any statement showing a lower level could reveal the untruths.
'In another email, according to a person who read them, the Trumps worried that a reporter might be on to them. In yet another email chain that included Don Jr. and Ivanka, the younger generation of Trumps issued the email equivalent of a knowing chuckle, saying that nobody would ever find them out, because only people on the email chain or in the Trump Organization knew about the deception.
New book American Oligarchs: The Kushners, The Trumps And The Marriage Of Money And Power by Andrea Bernstein, revisits the scandal and describes emails that offer even more alleged proof that the Trumps knew they were lying in order to increase sales.
'There was ''no doubt'' that the Trump children ''approved, knew of, agreed to, and intentionally inflated the numbers to make more sales,'' one person who saw the emails said. ''They knew it was wrong.'' ''It couldn't have been more clear they lied about the sales and knew they were lying,'' another person said.
'Yet another said, ''I was shocked by the words Ivanka used.'' Was there any doubt the Trumps knew they were lying and that it was wrong? ''Ten thousand percent no.'''
The project was already in trouble even before the Trump children got involved.
Trump announced the project on his reality show The Apprentice in 2006, boasting about the 46-story skyscraper.
However by the next year, work had stopped when it was revealed Felix Sater, who worked for the Bayrock Development group, was one of Trump's partners in the project.
Sater, who lived in Brooklyn and was born in Russia, was a contentious partner because he previously served jail time for stabbing a man with a margarita glass in the 1990s. He also avoided prison for a stock scam by becoming a government witness.
According to financial records, Bayrock received millions for the Trump SoHo deal from an Icelandic Bank that many Russian elites use to get their money out of the country. Additionally, companies linked to Kazakh oligarchs Viktor Krapunov and Mukhtar Ablyazov bought apartments worth more than $3 million in the building.
But the real mess began when it came time to sell the units.
Publicly, the young Trumps continuously raved about how well the units were selling, saying in April 2008 that 31 percent had been sold.
Ivanka said at a press conference in June 2008 that 60 percent had been sold. But the next year, Don Jr. gave a conflicting number to the Real Deal magazine when he said 55 percent were gone in April 2008.
'We’re in a very fortunate position,' Ivanka had said, 'where we have enough sales and now we are strategically targeting certain buyers.'
However, only barely 16 percent ever sold, meaning all of their boastful claims of great sales were lies.
The Trump SoHo opened in 2010 and it didn't take long for the lies to unravel.
Prospective buyers sued the Trumps in civil court over misrepresenting the percentage of units sold, prompting the criminal investigation.
The buyers claimed the Trump children showed 'a consistent and concerted pattern of outright lies.'
In emails, which reporters didn't see firsthand but were told about, the Trumps discussed how to coordinate divulging the false figures and how to hide their tracks.
One person familiar with the emails said there was 'no doubt' the Trump children 'approved, knew of, agreed to and intentionally inflated the numbers to make more sales.'
'They knew it was wrong,' the source added.
The Trump SoHo never fully recovered and in November 2017 and the Trump Organization cut all ties with the hotel due to low demand.
In December it was renamed The Dominick Hotel.
Original source: Mail Online
