New York’s attorney general sued Donald Trump Donald Trump -Search using:News, Most Recent 60 DaysBiographies Plus Newsfor $40 million Saturday, saying the real estate mogul helped run a phony “Trump University.”
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says many of the 5,000 students who paid up to $35,000 thought they would at least meet Trump but instead all they got was their picture taken in front of a life-size picture of “The Apprentice” TV star.
“Trump University engaged in deception at every stage of consumers’ advancement through costly programs and caused real financial harm,” Schneiderman said. “Trump University, with Donald Trump’s Donald Trump’s -Search using:News, Most Recent 60 DaysBiographies Plus Newsknowledge and participation, relied on Trump’s name recognition and celebrity status to take advantage of consumers who believed in the Trump brand.”
A spokeswoman for Trump did not immediately return a request for comment Saturday.
The lawsuit says many of the wannabe moguls were unable to land even one real estate deal and were left far worse off than before the lessons, facing thousands of dollars in debt for the seminar program once billed as a top quality university with Trump’s “hand-picked” instructors.
Schneiderman is suing the program, Trump as the university chairman, and the former president of the university in a case to be handled in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. He accuses them of engaging in persistent fraud, illegal and deceptive conduct and violating federal consumer protection law. The $40 million he seeks is mostly to pay restitution to consumers.
A Trump attorney had said Schneiderman sought campaign contributions while investigating the case, telling The New York Times it was “tantamount to extortion,” a claim denied by Schneiderman.
