hen President Donald Trump placed a bid to buy the Buffalo Bills franchise in 2014, he did so with the help of longtime lender Deutsche Bank.
As part of the process for buying the Bills, Trump had to convince the NFL that he had the financial clout to handle making what was estimated to have been at least a $1 billion purchase.
To do this, the New York Times reports, Trump and former “fixer” Michael Cohen convinced Deutsche Bank to vastly overstate in wealth in financial statements given to the league.
“Mr. Trump asked [Deutsche Bank U.S. private banking division chief Rosemary Vrablic] if the bank would be willing to make a loan and handed over bare-bones financial statements that estimated his net worth at $8.7 billion,” the Times reports. “Mr. Cohen testified to Congress last month that the documents exaggerated Mr. Trump’s wealth. Deutsche Bank executives had reached a similar conclusion. They nonetheless agreed to vouch for Mr. Trump’s bid, according to an executive involved.”
Trump’s failed attempt to purchase the Bills has since come under scrutiny from the New York Attorney General’s Office, which is reportedly investigating whether Trump’s actions constituted financial fraud.
