Donald Trump has been summarily convicted of fraud in the State of New York. (We wonder why other states aren’t investigating his tax records to determine whether he owes them property taxes.) The DA in New York has upped the potential penalty from $250 million to $370 million. And the TV Talking Heads are discussing how the judge will arrive at a final number. It seems to us that a huge piece of the puzzle is still undiscovered. According to the TV commentators the judge will probably want to know the difference in interest rates that Mr. Trump received by providing embellished property values versus what interest rates he would have received if the lenders knew his true net worth. We take umbrage with that limited view. What about the strong possibility that–knowing Trump’s true net worth–would have disqualified him from any loan application approval? He not only received “ill-gotten gains” from a lower interest rate than he deserved but he also probably profited from whatever real estate he bought with the fraudulently obtained loan. In other words, why isn’t the gain–obtained illegally–considered for the penalty phase? If he shouldn’t have been given the loan AT ALL, why let him profit from its process? The judge needs to address those “spoils” as well. It isn’t enough to look at interest rate differentials only. Let’s see how the process works out and whether justice is accurately and swiftly carried out.
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