Foreign Desk Report
NEW YORK: The Trump Organisation is being investigated in a “criminal capacity”, the New York state attorney general’s office said on Tuesday, as prosecutors advance their probe into former president Donald Trump’s business dealings.
Since leaving the White House in January after his defeat to Joe Biden, the former businessman and reality TV star retains a strong hold on many Republican voters, despite losing his powerful social-media megaphones of Twitter and Facebook. He denies wrongdoing, and has described a parallel criminal investigation by Manhattan’s district attorney as “a continuation of the greatest political witch hunt in the history of our country.” The attorneys general in both Manhattan and New York state are Democrats.
“We have informed the Trump Organisation that our investigation into the organisation is no longer purely civil in nature,” said a spokesman for the state’s attorney general Letitia James.
“We are now actively investigating the Trump Organisation in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan DA,” spokesman Fabien Levy said. The organisation is the holding company for hundreds of Trump entities, ranging from hotels to golf courses.
James’s office has otherwise been investigating allegations of bank fraud and insurance fraud through civil proceedings.
