Ivanka Trump’s Park Avenue penthouse value listed on financial documents differs by millions from sale price: Report

Testimony during the New York Attorney General’s $250 million civil fraud trial against former President Donald Trump has brought attention to the purported value of Ivanka Trump’s Park Avenue penthouse. Donald Bender, a former accountant for Donald Trump at the accounting firm Mazars USA, testified in Manhattan Supreme Court that he observed discrepancies between the value listed for Ivanka Trump’s penthouse on financial documents and its potential sale price.

Bender, while not responsible for auditing the company’s financials, mentioned that he occasionally informed Trump Organization officials about discrepancies in company financial documents. One such instance involved a difference in how Ivanka’s penthouse was valued on financial documents compared to its listed purchase price.

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This discrepancy is part of Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit against Donald Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and the Trump Organization. The lawsuit alleges that from 2011 through 2021, they inflated Donald Trump’s net worth to secure more favorable loan and insurance terms. According to the suit, Ivanka’s apartment in Trump Park Avenue was valued at $20.8 million on financial statements in 2011 and 2012, despite a purchase option in the lease for $8.5 million. Her rental agreement allowed her to buy the penthouse at a price “substantially below the market rent for similar units in the building.”

Ivanka Trump was initially a defendant in the lawsuit, but the charges against her were dismissed in a June appeals court ruling due to falling outside the statute of limitations. She, along with the other Trump family members involved in the case, is listed as a witness and could be called to testify during the trial, which is expected to continue until late December.

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It’s worth noting that Mazars severed its ties with the Trump Organization in 2022, stating that Trump’s “Statements of Financial Condition” from 2011 through 2020 “should no longer be relied on.”