Trump Institute:
Trump
has been charged by the New York State in a $40 million pending lawsuit
for the illegal practices and false advertising committed by the Trump
Institute. The Trump Institute started in 2006 by Donald Trump in
partnership with Mike and Irene Milin. The Milins had previously
committed real estate scams and had been prosecuted and sued multiple
times. Endorsed by Trump, they promised “the secrets of how you can get
government grants, loans, and subsidies” and that the teachers and
lessons would be handpicked by Trump. “ I put all of my concepts that
have worked so well for me, new and old, into our seminar,” he said in a
commercial advertising the institute in 2005. However, people later
discovered the lessons were plagiarized and that the teachers had no
background in real-estate. Students paid $999 per seminar and did not
get their money back. If they paid $34,995 to the institute, they were
offered personal visits from Trump, but instead only received cardboard
cutouts. Trump and the Milins have stolen thousands of dollars from
consumers and have not yet refunded anyone. The president of Trump
University, Michael Sexton, denied ever partnering with Milins even
though in 2006 he told The Sacramento Bee that
they partnered with them because “they were the best in the business”.
The Milins declared bankruptcy in 2008 as a result of the
law-enforcement investigations and lawsuits filed against them.
Trump University:
Trump
Institute is not the only scam Trump has been involved in. Trump
announced an “university” to teach his real-estates development secrets,
while charging students as much as $35,000 to learn how to get rich
quick. Trump University was charged with several lawsuits for
deceiving “the elderly and uneducated to separate them from their
money,” recalled Ronald Schnackenberg, one sales manager for Trump
University. Schnackenberg wrote in his testimony about how Trump
University salesmen regularly persuaded students to max out their credit
card even if it was not in their best economic interest. Trump owned
93% of Trump University and regularly advertised their programs.
Trump University shut down in 2010 but the litigation continues.
Trump has failed to have the lawsuits in California and New York thrown
out, but called that the US-Born Federal Judge being biased because he
is of Mexican descent.
Trump Foundation:
Donald Trump has not contributed his own money to the Trump Foundation since 2008, and the “charitable” group has been funded by other people’s money. However he spent $20,000 of foundation funds to buy a six-foot painting of Mr. Trump at a charity art auction, he bid $12,000 in foundation money to win a Tim Tebow autographed helmet, and even contributed $25,000 of foundation’s funds, clearly illegal, to support Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi political campaign right before she decided to halt the investigations of both Trump University and Trump Institute, where Trump Foundation was later fined for $2,500 for the illegal contribution. He also used $258,000 in foundation money to settle legal disputes, in lieu of paying fines.
Four Bankruptcies:
1991 – Trump’s Taj Mahal casino cannot make interest payments and declared bankruptcy in 1991, forcing him to sell his yacht, his airline, and his 50% interest in the casino
1992- Trump Plaza, another Atlantic City casino went bust after losing more than $550 million
2004 – Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts has a debt of $1.8 billion and filed for bankruptcy, but later emerged as Trump Entertainment Resorts
2009 – Trump Entertainment Resorts went bankrupt (again) after the real-estate collapse.
Veteran Charities:
U.S veterans are one of the many victims in Trump’s schemes. Trump claimed that he had raised $6 million for veterans during a fundraiser, that was supposed to go to 24 different veteran charities. However, these charities reported that they received half of what was promised. Trump has confirmed that he gave away $3 million out of the $6 million. When questioned where the other $3 million had gone, he refused to comment.
Sources:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/donald-trump-scandals/474726/
http://www.newsweek.com/2016/08/12/donald-trumps-business-failures-election-2016-486091.html
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