Letitia James and Fraud
Letitia James ran for and won the office of New York Attorney General (AG) on a platform of sticking it to Donald Trump. Fulfilling her campaign promise, AG James sued Donald Trump in 2023, accusing him and his family business of engaging in financial fraud to secure favorable loan terms and insurance terms. She claimed Trump did this by inflating the value of his real estate assets. James won a judge’s crazy ruling against Trump for $455 million. (It’s widely expected to be reversed on appeal.)
But was Letitia James the one who committed real estate fraud to obtain better loan terms?
PJ Media and FOX News reports
As early as July 17, 2023, James had registered a campaign committee-James for NY 2026 – Attorney General (ID 308810) - and filed campaign finance disclosures. This demonstrates her clear intention to seek re-election as the AG.
On August 17, 2023, one month later, James signed a Power of Attorney to be able to complete a real estate purchase in Norfolk Virginia. The power of attorney that James signed said, “I hereby declare that I intend to occupy this property as my principal residence.”
On August 30, 2023, the transaction was completed. The Virginia property at 604 Sterling Street was purchased for $240,000 with a $219,780 mortgage. Per PJ Media, the mortgage documents require James to make the property her principal residence within 60 days (by approximately October 30, 2023) and maintain it for at least one year.
On October 2nd, 2023, James’ suit against Trump for fraud started.
On July 17th, James clearly states she will be running for reelection as AG but on August 17th she clearly states Virginia will be her principal residence. New York’s Public Officers Law § 30(1)(d) mandates that an office becomes vacant when the officeholder ceases “to be an inhabitant of the state.”
If, in fact, the Virginia property became her principal residence, then she had legally abandoned her position as New York Attorney General. Was she then ineligible to prosecute Trump? Has she not been the NY AG for the past year and a half?
If she did not take up the Virginia property as her principal residence, then she lied on the Power of Attorney. This could be important since mortgage rates are lower on primary homes than on secondary or investment properties. A case can be made that she committed fraud to gain more favorable real estate loan rates — pretty much the crime of which she accused Trump!
James may also have tripped federal wire fraud charges with this maneuver. These can carry a fine of up to $1 million and/or 30 years in prison. Those charges would be brought against Letitia James by President Trump’s Department of Justice. (Don’t stop laughing!)
It doesn’t stop there.
Both The Gateway Pundit and FOX News report:
In 2001, Letitia James purchased a four-story multi-family apartment building with five (5) apartments in Brooklyn for $550,000. The Certificate of Occupancy, dated January 26, 2001, says the property is legally classified as a five (5) family dwelling.
In 2005, James refinanced the building with an adjustable loan that started at an interest rate of 7.2% with a ceiling of 10.2%. She declared the building was a four (4) family unit. Properties with four or fewer units qualify for more favorable “residential” interest rates, while those with five or more are classified as “commercial” properties—often subject to higher rates.
IN 2011, James sought relief from high interest rates by applying under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). HAMP had strict eligibility requirements. According to its official Making Home Affordable Program Handbook, “Eligibility is limited to owner-occupied properties with no more than four (4) units.” James listed her property type as: DWELLING ONLY – 4 FAMILY (apartments)
James got the HAMP loan at an interest rate of just 2.7% (down from an estimated 10.2%.) Saving about $44,000 per year.
HAMP warned: “False statements may be punishable by fines, imprisonment, or both under federal law.” Mortgage fraud under federal law under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Treasury. Hat’s President Trump’s Department of Treasury. (Don’t stop laughing yet.)
The Gateway Pundit and FOX News report more.
In the Spring of 1983, Letitia James and her father jointly purchased a home at 114-04 Inwood Street in Queens, New York. (For Letitia to live in?) The deed for the property, executed on the same day says the property is being purchased by “ROBERT JAMES AND LETITIA JAMES, his daughter.”
According to New York City Department of Finance records, on May 20, 1983, Letitia James and her father, Robert James, took out a real estate loan from Kadilac Funding Ltd. for $30,300 as “husband and wife.”
When the James “couple’s” loan was assigned by Kadilac Funding Ltd to The Richard Grill Company and recorded on June 27, 1983, Letitia and her father, Robert James, are once again listed as “husband and wife.”
When they sold the property on May 4, 2000, the document listed the sellers as “ROBERT JAMES AND LETITIA JAMES, HIS WIFE.”
It is guessed that at the age of 24, Letitia James may have had trouble qualifying for a home loan as a single woman with little or no income. She had graduated from CUNY’s Lehman College in 1981 and she would not begin law school at Howard University in Washington, DC, until the fall of 1984 and she was living with her parents.
Does this qualify as fraud?
Will the ‘legacy media’ cover these before they are forced to do it?
In today’s world it is hard to know what is true and false. The above seems to be well documented and was publicized on FOX News. We shall see…