If This Is What It Looks Like, NY AG Letitia James Is In a World of Trouble
Athena Thorne | 1:23 PM on April 11, 2025
Letitia James famously campaigned for the office of New York Attorney General on a platform of sticking it to Orange Man Bad. New York being what it is these days, the TDS attack dog won the election and became the Historic™ first black female NY AG, if you care about such things. And now, it looks like she may also have the distinction of becoming the first black female NY AG to earn herself fraud charges.
As you may recall, James filed a civil lawsuit against Donald Trump in 2023, when he was between presidencies. She accused Trump and his family business of engaging in financial fraud to secure favorable loans and insurance terms. She claimed they did this by inflating the value of their real estate assets (as if lending institutions don't send their own assessors to check on the collateral before handing out massive loans, but I digress). James won a ludicrous ruling against Trump to the tune of approximately $455 million.
This judgment is currently under appeal and widely expected to be overturned by the court. But wouldn't it be funny if Tish James were the one who committed real estate fraud to obtain better loan terms?
A word about my source for what you are about to read: Sam E. Antar was one of the biggest fraudsters of the 1980s. In his role as CFO of the ubiquitous Brooklyn, N.Y.-based electronics chain Crazy Eddie, Antar was convicted of multiple federal fraud-based felonies in 1991, although he scored a plea deal that kept him out of prison.
Antar now describes himself as "a former certified public accountant whose career trajectory took a remarkable turn from perpetrator to investigator of financial fraud." According to his website, White Collar Fraud, "Following his criminal conviction, Antar redirected his expertise toward forensic accounting, leveraging his firsthand knowledge of financial fraud to help combat white-collar crime."
https://pjmedia.com/athena-thorne/2025/04/11/if-this-is-what-it-looks-like-nyag-letitia-james-is-in-a-world-of-trouble-n4938806
