The New York prosecutor’s office has filed civil charges against former US President Donald Trump (76). Attorney General Letitia James (63) announced this at a press conference in New York on Wednesday. The reason: fraud. Accordingly, charges have also been brought against Trump’s company and his children Donald Trump Jr. (44), Eric Trump (38) and Ivanka Trump (40).

James accuses the 76-year-old of “falsely inflating his net worth by billions of dollars” “in order to dishonestly enrich himself”. He “cheated the system and thus cheated us all”. The indictment is about annual information on Trump’s financial situation from 2011 to 2021. The family is said to have increased or decreased their finances depending on their needs, for example to pay less taxes or get easier loans. “They should all be held accountable,” James said.

The Attorney General summed up her demands on Twitter. For example, she is aiming for fines totaling $ 250 million (about 253.3 million euros). In addition, Trump and his children are to be banned from running companies based in New York State in the future.

Letitia James has led civil investigations into Trump and his corporate empire for several years. During that time, she spoke to 65 witnesses and examined numerous documents, as she explained in New York. Trump’s group vehemently denies the allegations. Several procedures are currently underway against the ex-president.