Cushman In Contempt, Fined $10K A Day Until It Produces Trump Documents
Real estate services giant Cushman & Wakefield has been held in contempt of court for refusing to turn over Trump Organization-related documents subpoenaed by the attorney general of New York earlier this year.
The deadline to provide the documents passed earlier this week.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron ordered that the company will have to pay $10K each day, starting Wednesday, until it complies with the subpoena.
A spokesperson for Cushman told NBC News that Engoron did not "understand the extreme lengths Cushman has gone to comply with the court’s order.”
The judge disagreed. Cushman “has only itself to blame if it chose to treat the looming deadlines cavalierly,” Engoron wrote in the contempt order.
Last month, an appeals court in New York ruled that the real estate giant had to comply with subpoenas that New York State Attorney General Letitia James issued as part of her civil investigation of former President Donald Trump's business practices.
“Cushman & Wakefield’s work for Donald Trump and the Trump Organization is clearly relevant to our investigation, and we’re pleased that the court has recognized that and taken action to force Cushman to comply with our subpoenas,” James said in a statement Wednesday.
James' investigation is to determine whether the Trump Organization lied to taxing authorities and banks about the value of its real estate assets in an effort to obtain tax breaks and better loan terms.
Before breaking its ties with the Trump Organization in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, Cushman & Wakefield did appraisals for several Trump properties, such as 40 Wall Street in Manhattan and the Seven Springs estate in Westchester County in New York.
