The all-powerful and millionaire former president of the United States, and Republican candidate for re-election, donald trumpfaces from this Monday to one of the many judicial processes that he has open at the moment: a trial in New York in which he is accused of tax fraud after having inflated the value of his business empire. On Monday she went to testify in what was the first session of a trial that could last up to three months.

This trial is held after a long and in-depth investigation that could lead to a million-dollar penalty for the politician and businessman, a process as complex as his network of companies that is difficult to understand, and which we break down into five keys:

What he is acussed

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Trump – along with his two oldest children, as well as two partners – inflated his personal net worth before financial institutions by 3.6 billion dollars (about 3.3 billion euros) between 2011 and 2021. The demand is set at 250 million dollars.

The origin of the lawsuit dates back to 2019, when the company’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen – who was also responsible for making irregular payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels – raised questions about its financial status before Congress.

What will be resolved until December 22 are six charges related to illegalities in the company’s practices, EFE includes: document falsification, issuance of false financial data and insurance fraud.

The accusation of general fraud It was already celebrated last week with the ruling of Judge Arthur Engoron, who declared that Trump had indeed inflated his assets.

Who accuses him?

In addition to Engoron, Trump’s recent nightmare is the state’s attorney general, Letitia Jameswho has led the entire investigation of the tycoon’s assets that has ended with a civil lawsuit.

Letitia James, the attorney general of the State in the United States whom Donald Trump calls "racist"

Letitia James, the US attorney general whom Donald Trump calls “racist” | EFE/EPA/Peter Foley

For Trump it is more than a witch hunt

As expected, because he has already used the same speech in other judicial processes, the list of expletives that the former US president has uttered about this process is extensive.

“It’s a real Witch hunt to interfere in the elections of the United States of America. It is totally illegal“, he reproached in statements to the press reported by CNN.

“I just arrived at court to fight a corrupt and racist attorney general and against an out-of-control judge who hates Trump, who refuses to accept an appeals court decision that knocks out 80 percent of his case,” he indicated on the social network Truth Social.

Trump has continued along the same line in some statements he made to the media before entering the room: “They are trying to harm me so that I do not do as well as I am doing so far,” he indicated, in relation to its electoral race to return to the White House in 2024.

On the other hand, and regarding the supposed inflated value of his assets, the New York Times reported last Friday that Trump’s lawyers argue that James’ lawsuit does not adequately take into account the value of the Trump brand nor does it consider nature subjective of real estate valuations: “Value is what someone is willing to pay. Trump’s properties are Mona Lisas. That’s not fraud, it’s the real estate business,” lawyer Alina Habba even said about, for example, the Mar-a-Lago mansion, which the judge estimated at 18 million and which the Trumps put at 1,000 million, reports Efe.

What could happen to you

Trump could to lose control of some of its best-known properties in New York, which was the objective of the state attorney general. A first step was already taken last week and Judge Engoron ordered the withdrawal of his business licenses in New York, which experts say will likely lead to a sale or transfer of those properties, barring a successful appeal by Trump.

Among the dozen properties owned by Trump that the magnate could lose is the famous Trump Tower and its three-story apartment located at 725 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan

Details of the trial

The hearing is being held in the Supreme Court of New York and began, as indicated above, this past Monday, October 2. After Trump’s statement, it will be the turn of other witnesses, no less than a hundred people, including workers or former workers of the company, indicates EFE.

Something that has attracted attention, because it is not usual in the United States, is that this trial will be settled with a single judge and no jurysomething Trump called “unfair.”