The accounting firm overseeing the financial and tax review of the Trump Organization has stated that a decade's worth of Donald Trump's financial data is unreliable and that it will not be conducting any further work for the company, according to New York Attorney General Letitia James. Mazars notified Trump's chief lawyer, Alan Garten, of its decision last week in a letter, which James included in a court filing on Monday to urge the judge to order Trump to comply with subpoena requests.
The state is investigating what it claims is a pattern of potential fraud involving the manipulation of valuations of Trump's key properties, according to Bloomberg, as reported by Al Arabiya.net. The investigation conducted by James, a Democrat, is one of several law enforcement inquiries into Trump's business practices, including a criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney.
Trump's lawyers, who are expected to seek re-election in the upcoming presidential race, have accused James of politically motivated targeting and have sought to obstruct the progress of her investigation on multiple occasions.
The accounting firm's announcement of abandoning a client and retracting previous financial statements serves as a red flag for investors, lenders, or other parties, indicating that the company's financial status may not be as it appears. It can also signal to regulatory bodies and other authorities that violations may have occurred, often serving as a basis for initiating or expanding enforcement investigations.
Mazars stated in its letter dated February 9 that it decided to sever ties with Trump after conducting its own investigation and based on the filings submitted by the attorney general in January. It added that it had not reached a final conclusion regarding the financial statements from 2011 to 2020 due to significant discrepancies. However, it determined that "the overall circumstances faced the firm with a conflict of interest with the Trump Organization."
The letter noted: "As a result, we are unable to provide any new work for the Trump Organization." Meanwhile, the Manhattan district attorney has already filed criminal charges against the firm and CFO Allen Weisselberg, alleging tax fraud. James stated that she has detailed "the basis of the state's good faith investigation in previous court memos," adding that "the defendants' failure to address—let alone refute—the alleged facts in those memos is an implicit acknowledgment of the seriousness of their conduct and reinforces the merits of this investigation."