Other clients of the real estate services conglomerate Cushman & Wakefield could have their appraisals caught up in New York's investigation into the Trump Organization, Insider reported Thursday evening.
The firm is appealing a court order that requires them to turn over property valuations from five appraisers who worked on Trump properties being examined in the probe by Attorney General Letitia James.
"The Cushman records James wants — and which Cushman is fighting against turning over — center on five Cushman employees who did the appraisals for the Trump National Golf Club near Los Angeles, 40 Wall Street in Manhattan, and Seven Springs, a 212-acre estate in New York's Westchester County," Insider reported. "The five targeted appraisers, 'have made repeated misstatements in the documents we've seen so far,' concerning those three properties, a lawyer for the AG's office, Austin Thompson, argued in a Manhattan court hearing last month."
The investigation of the five appraisers could have far-reaching consequences for the firm and its clients.
"Cushman attorney Sawnie A. McEntire has said in court hearings that the subpoenas are "outrageous and overbroad," and that complying would violate the privacy of some 1,000 clients unrelated to the Trump Organization," Insider reported. "And the clients would know. Each would have to be told that their appraisals had been subpoenaed, as required by their engagement contracts."
McEntire says the company has "incurred billions of dollars in attorney fees and expenses, in complying with their subpoenas."
Read the full report.