New York prosecutors reportedly expanding criminal probe into Trump loans for his Manhattan properties

• New York prosecutors are expanding their investigation into former President Donald Trump, the WSJ reported.
• According to the report, prosecutors are examining loans Trump took out on his flagship properties.
• The investigation is led by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is expanding its ongoing investigation into the financial dealings of former President Donald Trump relating to loans taken out on his flagship New York properties, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. 

According to the report, which cited sources familiar with the investigation, the new portions of the probe are related to loans to Trump by subsidiaries of New York City-based real estate investment trust Ladder Capital Corp. A $100 million loan on Trump Tower is due next year while other loans are due in the coming years, the report said.

The trust has lent the former president over $280 million for his four Manhattan properties since 2012, the report noted. The properties involved in the probe include Trump Tower, 40 Wall St., Trump International Hotel and Tower, Trump Plaza, all located in Manhattan. New York prosecutors are also investigating the Trump Organization’s Seven Springs property in Westchester County, according to the report.

Read more: Inside the glitzy, fractured world of Palm Beach, where Trump’s Mar-a-Lago move rankles locals but the wealthy are fighting over mansions anyway

It’s unclear exactly what the probe relates to, but experts told the Wall Street Journal that it may concern possible discrepancies with loan documents and financial information submitted on other documents, like his tax returns, according to the report.

The Manhattan DA’s office Saturday declined an Insider request to confirm the WSJ’s reporting.

As Insider previously reported, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. are leading investigations into Trump’s personal finances and the finances of the Trump Organization.

Last year, Vance, a Democrat who this year faces a battle for reelection, won a Supreme Court ruling that confirmed he was able to obtain Trump’s tax returns and other financial documents, but Trump appealed the ruling again on different grounds. The Supreme Court has not said whether it plans to hear the former president’s second appeal.

Trump has called Vance’s investigation a “witch hunt,” while his lawyers called it a “fishing expedition,” as the Wall Street Journal noted Saturday. The Trump Organization did not immediately return Insider’s request for comment.

Trump and his eponymous organization are under new scrutiny now that he is out of office. A Chicago judge earlier in February ruled that his Chicago hotel violated an environmental protection law for several years by improperly using water from the Chicago River to cool the building without the proper permit. 

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