An American judge: Trump and his two sons are responsible for fraud and repeated violations of the law

A US judge in New York City decided to revoke licenses allowing some Trump companies, including the Trump Organization, to operate in New York, after he deemed that the former US president had committed fraud and violated the law.

A New York City judge ruled on Tuesday that former US President Donald Trump and two of his sons committed "repeated" financial "fraud" in the first decade of this century by inflating the value of the financial and real estate assets of their company, the Trump Organization.

The judge said in his decision that Trump and his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, are “responsible” for “repeated violations” of the law.

Trump's two sons are executive vice presidents of the group founded by their father.

The judge also decided to revoke licenses allowing some Trump companies, including the Trump Organization, to operate in New York, and ordered the appointment of a receiver to manage the process of dissolving the companies.

Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Trump in September 2022, accusing him, three of his adult children, and the Trump Organization of fraud over a period of ten years regarding the value of assets and his net worth to deceive banks and insurance companies in order to obtain better financing and insurance terms.

In her lawsuit, the Public Prosecutor specifically demands that the defendants pay compensation amounting to approximately $250 million.

Trump's lawyer, Christopher Case, said in a statement: "Today's blatant decision has nothing to do with the facts and the law."

He added: "President Trump and his family will use all available means of appeal to correct the course of justice."

Trump also mocked the fraud accusations against him on his Truth Social platform, describing them as “ridiculous and unreal.”

In his decision, the judge considered that the documents submitted by the Public Prosecutor clearly show “fraudulent valuations” by Donald Trump of the assets of his group, which includes various companies that include residential real estate, luxury hotels, golf clubs, and many others.

According to the indictment, the Republican billionaire and his two sons deliberately “inflated” the value of these assets by billions of dollars in order to obtain, among other things, loans on better terms from banks between 2011 and 2021.

Trump is seeking the Republican Party's nomination to compete in the 2024 US presidential race, and Trump maintains the lead in the race despite the criminal charges against him in many cases.

Azerbaijan arrests the former head of the Nagorno-Karabakh government 

Moscow-Yerevan: Azerbaijan arrested the former head of the Nagorno-Karabakh government, Ruben Vardanyan, on the border with Armenia, according to official reports.The official AZERTAC agency reported that Vardanyan, who officially holds the position of Minister of State in the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), was transferred to the capital, Baku, where the authorities will decide further measures to be taken against him, as the Azerbaijani Border Guard announced on Wednesday.

Azerbaijan took control of the long-disputed territory last week after brief fighting. The region is located entirely within Azerbaijani territory, but the majority of its population are Armenians.Tens of thousands of Armenians have fled the region since then.The border guard's indictment against Vardanyan stipulates illegal entry into Azerbaijan. It is not known whether there are other charges against the 55-year-old man.Vardanyan's wife, Veronica Zonaband, confirmed the news of the arrest. She wrote on her husband's channel via Telegram today that the Azerbaijani authorities arrested her husband while he was trying to leave Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia.Vardanyan, who became a billionaire in Russia, moved to Nagorno-Karabakh last fall and assumed the position of prime minister there between November 2022 and February 2023.