According to the Wall Street Journal, the New York State Attorney General's Office issued a statement last week saying it had shifted the investigation into the Trump Organization from a civil to a criminal investigation. That would further raise the legal risk Trump faces over a range of allegations of economic crimes.
At present, the US media reports that the leader of the criminal investigation is Gary Fishman, an American financial crime investigation expert known for his experience and tough style. According to people familiar with the matter, Fishman is leading prosecutors in a criminal investigation into the Trump Organization. The role had never been made public before.
The New York State Proceeds of Crime Crackdown Group, which he currently leads, investigates banking and tax offenses and often collaborates with other law enforcement agencies. According to outside analysts, this means that Trump may find it difficult to get rid of this big trouble.
According to outside analysts, It is difficult for Trump to get rid of this big trouble. Figure according to CNN News
Mysterious leader!
Experienced financial crime investigation specialist
According to people familiar with the matter, Gary Fishman was once one of two assistant attorneys general in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, has a lot of experience in financial crime investigations, and is known for his tenacity. Currently, Gary Fishman serves as a special adviser to the Department of Criminal Justice in the New York State Attorney General's Office while leading the Proceeds of Crime Combat Group. The team investigates banking and tax crimes and often collaborates with other law enforcement agencies.
According to people familiar with the matter, Fishman is leading prosecutors in a criminal investigation into the Trump Organization. His role had never been made public before. Fishman has more than 20 years of experience investigating financial crimes, having worked for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for more than 15 years before joining the New York State Attorney General's Office in 2012. Lawyers who have worked with him say Fishman is known for being tough but fair, meticulous in his work, and always going to great lengths to get what he needs to file a case.
Fishman has extensive experience investigating financial crimes. Pictured according to the Washington Post
Former prosecutor Adam Kaufman worked with Fishman in the Economic Crimes Division of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. According to him, when suing a $100 million mortgage fraud case in 2009, Fishman's strong litigation strategy was to consider how best to exploit cooperation with hostile witnesses. Kaufmann added: "He has a good ability to read people, and he is often thinking about how to turn these people into witnesses. ”
After joining the New York State Attorney General's Office, Fishman investigated William Lapfugel, former executive director and CEO of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. Prompts by Fishman, Rapfugel pleaded guilty in 2014 to multiple felonies, including stealing more than $1 million from Jewish charities.
Pursued!
The State District Attorneys join forces to conduct a criminal investigation
In the criminal investigation against the Trump Organization, Fishman and another assistant attorney general worked with district attorneys, which gave them access to manhattan prosecutors' otherwise confidential grand jury materials. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Manhattan District Attorney has convened a grand jury that will decide whether to prosecute former President Trump if prosecutors file criminal charges in an investigation into the Trump Group.
The analysis notes that this means that New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is also investigating Trump, and Cyrus vance Jr., the District Attorney for The District of Manhattan, New York, can share resources and will be criminally prosecuted against Trump if evidence of Trump's crimes is found.
From left to right: Cyrus Vance Jr., District Attorney for Manhattan, New York, former U.S. President Trump, U.S. Attorney General Letitia James. According to Business Insider
According to people familiar with the matter, the cooperation is extraordinary — in New York, state and local inspections have historically been competitors. District attorneys and state attorneys generals typically only cooperate when offices clash or investigations overlap. But this time they chose to cooperate, indicating that they attach great importance to this investigation. Last week, James's spokesman said his office had informed the Trump Organization that the investigation into the group was no longer purely civil in nature, and that the New York State Attorney General's Office was working with the District Attorney's Office to actively investigate the Trump Organization from a criminal perspective.
In 2019, Michael Cohen, a former private lawyer for Trump, accused the U.S. Congress of manipulating the book value of its assets, making a profit by applying for a loan to report the value of assets under its name and understating assets when paying taxes. James then launched a civil fraud investigation into Trump and his family. Trump denied the allegations.
Vance has been investigating economic crimes against Trump and his affiliates since 2018, including bank fraud, insurance fraud, criminal tax fraud, falsification of business records, etc., and at worst Trump will face 25 years in prison.
Since 2018, Vance (center), the district attorney for Manhattan in New York, has been "chasing after Trump". According to The New York Times
As part of Vance's investigation, prosecutors investigated a range of Trump properties, including Seven Springs Properties in Westchester County, New York, a building in Lower Manhattan, the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, and the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles. Prosecutors are also investigating Trump's hotel in the old Postal Building in Washington, D.C., the content of an investigation that has not been disclosed before, people familiar with the matter said.
Trump called the investigations "partisan political persecution" launched by Democrats James and Vance. The Trump Organization has previously said Ms James' investigation was "politically driven."
Big trouble!
Or become the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges
According to the Wall Street Journal, Fishman's involvement in trump's investigation dates back at least last year. Jennifer Weisselberg, the former daughter-in-law of Trump Group executive Allen Weisselberg, revealed that her first contact with Fishman came in September 2020, when divorce proceedings with her husband, Barry Weisselberg, were in the press.
The Trump couple with Jennifer and Barry Wesselberg. Pictured according to Bloomberg
Jennifer described Fisherman as intelligent, serious, and serious. She said she asked herself "how people on the Trump track function, with a focus on the relationship and decision-making hierarchy around Trump and Weisselberg." "(Fishman) is a shark," she added.
Alan Weiselberg has been involved in the Trump Organization's finance work for decades, and he is seen by prosecutors as a key figure in the investigation. Allen's son, Barry Wesselberg, runs the Wolman Ice Rink, which the Trump Organization runs in Central Park. Jennifer previously claimed to have a large number of documents obtained through divorce proceedings related to the Finances of the Trump Organization and the Finances of the Wesselberg Family.
During his presidency, Trump adamantly refused to release his tax returns despite intense pressure and dismissed any investigations into his and the Trump Organization's financial dealings, which he claimed were "political persecution by Democrats desperate to step down."
Now that Trump has lost his second term, he no longer enjoys "immunity," and this latest development will cause him big trouble and could affect his political future — once the grand jury decides to prosecute, Trump could become the first former president in the history of the United States to face criminal charges.
Infographic: Trump
According to the political news website Politico quoted informed sources, Trump has moved to the private club "Mar-a-Lago" in Florida after leaving office, and if the prosecution formally sues Trump, he is likely to be in Mar-a-Lago, and Florida law enforcement officers have been preparing for this. But extraditeing Trump back to New York will not be easy. Under Florida law, Gov. Ron desantis has the power to step in to determine whether to transfer defendants under this "out-of-state lawsuit," but DeSantis, a Republican, has been a loyal ally of Trump.
If Trump had been at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, at the time of the indictment, the situation could have been very different. While interstate extradition rules are similar in New Jersey and Florida, the governor of New Jersey is a Democrat.
Red Star News reporter Luo Tian
Edited by Li Binbin
(Download Red Star News, there are prizes for the newspaper!) ）