US Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump in indebted twice the amount he declared in his federal election filings.
According to New York Times, the Republican candidate owns companies that are $650 million in debt, an amount that is twice the amount he stated in public filings.
The report also said that Trump’s fortunes are heavily dependent on financial backers, including one he has attacked during his campaign.
“For example, an office building on Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, of which Mr. Trump is part owner, carries a $950 million loan. Among the lenders: the Bank of China, one of the largest banks in a country that Mr. Trump has railed against as an economic foe of the United States, and Goldman Sachs, a financial institution he has said controls Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, after it paid her $675,000 in speaking fees”, the report read.
Trump submitted a form, earlier in his campaign, that said his business owed at least $315 million to a group of lenders. The form which was a 104-page long financial disclosure form, also listed ties with more than 500 limited liability companies. New York Times report that the form was meant for presidential candidates that had less complicated finances and did not require the disclosure of certain portions of their business activities.
The report that Trump’s wealth is mostly linked to three passive partnerships that owe $2billion in addition to his debts.
“Beyond finding that companies owned by Mr. Trump had debts of at least $650 million, The Times discovered that a substantial portion of his wealth is tied up in three passive partnerships that owe an additional $2 billion to a string of lenders, including those that hold the loan on the Avenue of the Americas building. If those loans were to go into default, Mr. Trump might not be held personally liable, but the value of his investments would sink.
“Mr. Trump has said that if he were elected president, his children would be likely to run his company. Many presidents, to avoid any appearance of a conflict, have placed their holdings in blind trusts, which typically involves selling the original asset, and replacing it with different assets unknown to the seller.
Mr. Trump’s children seem unlikely to pursue that option,” NY Times reported.
The News platform also reported that Trump is not financially worth as much as he as claimed.
“Mr. Trump indicated in the financial disclosure form he filed in connection with this campaign that he was worth at least $1.5 billion, and has said publicly that the figure is actually greater than $10 billion. Recent estimates by Forbes and Fortune magazines and Bloomberg have put his worth at less than $5 billion”.
