The German bank that has loaned over $2 billion to Donald Trump over the past two decades has handed over the president’s banking records to prosecutors in the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., according to the New York Times, which suggests that Vance may be on the verge of indicting Trump on bank and insurance fraud charges.
The Times reports that Deutsche Bank began complying with a “wide-ranging” subpoena from Vance’s office last year:
“Deutsche Bank complied with the subpoena. Over a period of months last year, it provided Mr. Vance’s office with detailed records, including financial statements and other materials that Mr. Trump had provided to the bank as he sought loans, according to two of the people familiar with the inquiry.”
“The bank’s response to the subpoena reinforces the seriousness of the legal threat the district attorney’s investigation poses for Mr. Trump, his family and his company, which in recent years have faced — and for the most part fended off — an onslaught of regulatory, congressional and criminal inquiries.”
“Tax returns can be crucial evidence for proving that a defendant misstated the value of assets, said Daniel R. Alonso, who was Mr. Vance’s top deputy from 2010 to 2014 and is now in private practice. ‘Tax returns are an obvious place to look because of the precision required by tax authorities,’ he said.”