Deutsche Bank Executives Testify In Trump’s Favor In NY Trial

This Tuesday, Deutsche Bank AG executives testified in former President Donald Trump’s New York civil fraud case, shedding light on the bank’s due diligence process and its longstanding business relationship with Trump. The testimonies challenge the civil fraud case brought by Attorney General Letitia James, corroborating Trump’s claims that he did nothing wrong.

David Williams, a veteran of Deutsche Bank’s private wealth management division for 17 years, testified that it is not uncommon for loan clients to overstate their net worth. He emphasized that the bank carries out its own rigorous due diligence when assessing eligibility for loans.

“It’s not unusual or atypical for any client’s provided financial statements to be adjusted to this level to this extent,” Williams stated.

James accused Trump and his company of defrauding Deutsche Bank by submitting inflated net worth statements to secure better loan terms while also violating loan requirements known as covenants. However, Williams’ testimony suggests that the bank did not view these discrepancies as a cause for concern.

Furthermore, internal bank credit memos presented as evidence in the case revealed that Deutsche Bank had approved loans to Trump despite adjusting his stated net worth from approximately $4.2 billion to $2.3 billion in 2011 and 2012 when evaluating his loan requests. This decision was based on the bank’s expectation of generating a profit from Trump’s track record of successful developments and other criteria.

Addressing the court, Williams explained, “As part of our due diligence, we subject a client’s asset value to adjustments. It’s part of our underwriting process we apply it to every client regardless of what’s reported.”

Williams, who played a significant role in loans related to Trump Organization assets such as the Old Post Office, Doral Golf Resort & Spa, and the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago, defended the bank’s practices. He highlighted that fluctuations in high-net-worth individuals’ cash flow are not unusual, with both positive and negative variations occurring from year to year.

He also said under oath that there were never any covenant defaults on the loans the bank gave to Trump and his company.

Williams’ testimony gives a solid backing to Trump’s defense, which has seen his legal team argue that any discrepancies in net worth or asset valuations were immaterial to the bank, as they significantly adjusted these values when determining loan terms during the underwriting process.

The testimony also gives substance to Trump’s consistent claims that the case as well other legal cases against him, including federal criminal cases in Florida and Washington, DC, as well as state criminal cases in New York and Georgia, are politically motivated.

Deutsche Bank Executive, David Williams, testified in Trumps NY civil lawsuit, that when he worked on several of Trumps loans, “he had one of the strongest balance sheets we have ever seen, and totally unlike any of our major developer clients.
He (Trump) reported both a net… pic.twitter.com/Rfgw6ELT1C

— 🇺🇸ProudArmyBrat (@leslibless) November 30, 2023