Two months before Donald Trump’s taxes were due, his longterm accounting firm, Mazars USA, released a letter stating that it would not represent him any longer. The accounting firm’s executive William J. Kelly worried about the statements the firm prepared for Trump. They were being investigated by the New York Attorney General Letitia James (D). Apparently, Trump used them to greatly inflate how much his properties were worth to potential lenders.
Kelly wrote in the letter about Trump’s contact at the firm, The Business Insider reported:
‘We believe the only information left to complete those returns is the information regarding the Matt Calimari Jr. [sic] apartment. As you know, Donald Bender has been asking for this information for several months but has not received it.’
The Trump Organization regularly handed out expensive perks, such as luxury apartments and vehicles. The Trump Organization said its security chief, Matthew Calamari, Jr. owned one of those apartments. He is the son of the Trump Organization’s COO, Matthew Calamari, Sr.
The reason Mazars gave for abandoning the ex-president’s tax returns was that the Trump Organization refused to give it financial information about the younger Calamari’s apartment. Mazars may have also conducted its own internal investigation
New York Attorney General Letitia James has been prosecuting a case into the Trump Organization’s alleged financial malfeasance. The Manhattan district attorney’s office is also investigating the company for alleged tax fraud in tandem with James. However, neither party gave details about what was missing or whether the missing data could be part of the tax-fraud investigation.
He was asked to describe how the company he and his father worked for could have broken tax laws with expensive perks such as those expensive apartments and cars. And the employee was given immunity from prosecution for rolling over on the company, The Daily Beast reported.
Attorney for the Calamaris, Nicholas Gravante, said that he did did not know why Mazars never received the missing information. He said:
“If there has been a delay, he has no idea why. He was given immunity and provided everything asked of him. His tax returns for all of the years in question were 100% accurate in all respects. Their accuracy has been verified by tax and accounting experts.’
‘[W]e believe our advice to you to no longer rely upon those financial statements is appropriate.’
The Trump Organization responded:
‘Mazars’ work was performed in accordance with all applicable accounting standards and principles and that such statements of financial condition do not contain any material discrepancies. This confirmation effectively renders the investigations by the DA and AG moot.’
Then, as usual, Trump’s company tried to throw the problem right back at the DA and James. It announced that this lack of discrepancies indicated that the two investigations were invalid.
Three White Lions political book, now available on Amazon’s Kindle-Vella. She also writes for the liberal online newspaper The Bipartisan Report. Gloria Christie Report her newsletter for people on the go. Written in her own unique style with a twist of humor in a briefer version of Bipartisan Report. Christie’s Mueller Report Adventures In Bite-Sizes a real-life compelling spy mystery (in process). Find her here on Facebook.
