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Forbes
a minute ago
- Forbes
Billionaire Rented Trump Mansion As Tax-Evasion Case Heated Up
I N SEPTEMBER 2020, a month before the Department of Justice revealed one of the biggest tax-evasion cases in U.S. history, the phone rang at the Palm Beach Police Department. The caller was Hope Smith, the wife of private-equity billionaire Robert Smith. Mrs. Smith had taken inventory of her jewelry collection ahead of a planned move and found that a 3.63-carat diamond ring, worth $1.1 million, was missing from a safe. 'Smith advised she does not recall where or when it was lost,' explained the police report, which Forbes obtained a week ago through a public-records request. 'However, it was last seen in her Palm Beach residence in January or February of 2020.' The police report identified the residence as 1125 South Ocean Boulevard, directly next door to President Trump's winter White House, Mar-a-Lago. The Smiths did not own 1125 South Ocean Boulevard but rented it, starting around the fall of 2019. Their landlord, who purchased the 10,500-square-foot property a year earlier, was Donald Trump. Smith, worth about $5 billion at the time, could well afford the estimated $65,000-per-month tab. The question is why the private-equity tycoon, who has spent millions buying and renovating homes in locales including Colorado, California and France, rented that particular property from that particular person. According to Smith's representative, the investor was eager to get to Palm Beach before his kids had their first day of school, and a previous rental had fallen through because of black mold, leading an agent to move quickly to secure Trump's home. The situation, however, led to an unusual dynamic, with the president renting to a man who had hidden more than $200 million from the government and was embroiled in a historic tax-evasion investigation. Trump's other white house: 1125 South Ocean Boulevard, pictured top left, stands out next to Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach club where the president spends much of the winter.'The Smiths quickly rented a short-term property that Robert did not visit in advance, and no one knew it was an investment property of Eric Trump,' Smith's spokesperson said in a statement. The property belongs to Donald Trump, not Eric, who manages his dad's business. 'The family occupied the property for about six months until March 11, 2020, when the Covid pandemic began,' the spokesperson added. 'They then went to Colorado and homeschooled their children for two years.' The Smiths may have only 'occupied' the property for six months, but it seems likely they rented for closer to 12 months, given that the police report, filed in September 2020, said Hope Smith realized she was missing her ring 'prior to moving.' With a possible indictment looming over his head, Smith had vowed during a May 2019 commencement speech that he would wipe out the student debt of the entire graduating class at Morehouse College. That donation caught the eye of Ivanka Trump, who forged a relationship with Smith that continued into the pandemic, when they spoke weekly, according to the Washington Post . Smith also chatted with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, at times daily, as they worked to ensure Covid relief funds went to underserved communities. Smith also cooperated with investigators as they turned their sites to his billionaire business partner, a software entrepreneur named Robert Brockman, who allegedly hid about $2 billion from tax authorities. A month after his wife contacted the police, Smith signed a non-prosecution agreement with the Justice Department, admitting to tax evasion and agreeing to pay $139 million but avoiding criminal charges. 'Smith committed serious crimes,' U.S. Attorney David Anderson noted in an October 15, 2020 press release, 'but he also agreed to cooperate. Smith's agreement to cooperate has put him on a path away from indictment.' He still had plenty of money leftover—Smith purchased two homes in North Palm Beach that exact same day for $48 million. If prosecutors planned to use Smith to convict his partner, they never got what they wanted. Brockman pleaded not guilty to 39 counts that included tax evasion, wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and destruction of evidence. About six months before his trial, he died at 81. In the end, neither billionaire went to jail for one of the biggest tax-evasion schemes in American history. More from Forbes Forbes Trump Has Spent About One-Third Of His Presidency Visiting His Own Properties By Dan Alexander Forbes After Years Of Lying, Trump Organization Tries To Figure Out How Big Its Properties Actually Are By Dan Alexander Forbes 'We'd Call That Corruption': How Trump Used The Presidency To Expand His Global Empire By Dan Alexander Forbes Trump Company Reduces Stake In Crypto Venture By Dan Alexander Forbes Crypto Now Accounts For Most Of Donald Trump's Net Worth By Dan Alexander
CNN
a minute ago
- CNN
Paxton and Cornyn, locked in US Senate primary, use official power in redistricting fight
Congressional news Senate election US electionsFacebookTweetLink Follow Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the man he is vying to unseat in next year's Republican primary, US Sen. John Cornyn, are both using the powers of their offices to try to pressure Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to prevent a vote on a GOP-led redistricting plan. Paxton on Friday said he was asking the state Supreme Court to remove 13 of the absent House Democrats from office, arguing in his lawsuit that those lawmakers 'made incriminating public statements regarding their refusal to return, essentially confirming in their own words the very grounds for this legal action.' Cornyn, meanwhile, asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation to help track down the absent House Democrats. He said Thursday that FBI Director Kash Patel assigned agents to handle his request for federal assistance, assigning them from Austin and San Antonio. The standoff over the unusual mid-decade push by Republicans to redraw Texas' congressional map is shaping next year's US Senate primaries in both parties. It's not clear what role FBI agents could play since the absent Texas Democrats do not appear to have broken federal law by leaving the state. The FBI has repeatedly declined to comment. And Paxton's legal action – following a similar, narrower filing by Gov. Greg Abbott seeking to remove Rep. Gene Wu, the House Democratic leader – seeks to disqualify elected lawmakers in a seemingly unprecedented way. 'We will not be broken by these antics,' Wu said at a news conference Friday afternoon in Illinois. 'We are not here to play games. We are not here to make waves, to go viral or do any of this stuff.' One of the Democrats targeted in Paxton's lawsuit, Rep. John Bucy III, said on social media he is 'not backing down.' Paxton has taken a range of actions seeking to pressure or punish absent Democrats. He also filed an emergency petition in Illinois' Eighth Circuit Court to make civil arrest warrants — which were signed by Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows earlier this week — enforceable in the state of Illinois, where dozens of Texas Democrats traveled this week. And he said he is suing former US Rep. Beto O'Rourke, whose political action committee, Powered By People, has raised money for the travel expenses incurred by Texas Democrats who left the state to block the House from establishing the two-thirds quorum it needs to do business. Paxton's office said it was requesting a 'a temporary restraining order and an injunction' preventing O'Rourke and his PAC from raising money for the Democrats. On the Democratic side, several people involved in the quorum break are running or talking about running for Senate. State Rep. James Talarico has become a de facto spokesman for the House members who fled. O'Rourke is raising money to foot the Democrats' travel bills, hotels and more. Former US Rep. Colin Allred, who has already entered the race, is holding events rallying Democrats against the redistricting effort. Talarico was asked whether his experience in the quorum break would inform his ultimate decision to run for Senate. 'I can't imagine how it wouldn't,' he told CNN's David Chalian for the 'Political Briefing' podcast. 'I'm still kind of processing everything that's been happening and I have no doubt that it will inform my decision about how to continue my service.' The Texas House is set to reconvene on Monday, and Burrows, the House speaker, said the state's Department of Public Safety will continue trying to enforce the civil arrest warrants he signed for the absent Democrats. 'We have all hands on deck. We are continuing to explore new avenues to compel a quorum and will keep pressing forward until the job is done,' Burrows said. The speaker said Republicans had asked the sergeant at arms in the Illinois House of Representatives for help returning the Texas Democrats who are staying in Illinois, but the Illinois speaker's office told CNN the sergeant at arms' office would not do so. Burrows on Friday also detailed more punitive measures meant to punish House Democrats who remain outside of the state. Burrows said that 30% of each absent member's monthly operating budget 'will be reserved and made unavailable for expenditure.' He said he is now requiring absent members to appear in person to make certain requests, including requests for travel reimbursement, requests to change staff salaries and requests to approve newsletters. He said that if members did not appear in person, newsletters and 'the encumbered funds' would be cancelled. Earlier in the week, Abbott, the Republican who called the special session that Democrats are stopping for now, told NBC that the absent Democrats can't wait out the redistricting effort, because he is 'going to call special session after special session after special session with the same agenda items on there.' Special sessions in Texas can last no more than 30 days. Democrats say they haven't yet decided how long they will seek to block the House from establishing a quorum. 'We're taking this one special session at a time, and my colleagues and I have agreed to stay out of the state capitol for the next two weeks to kill this rigged map and stop this corrupt process,' Talarico told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Friday. 'Who knows what will happen after that?' CNN's David Wright, Molly English, Aditi Sangal and Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Multiple People Injured in New York City's Times Square After Gunman Opens Fire, 17-Year-Old Suspect Arrested
The incident occurred in the early hours of the morning on Saturday, Aug. 9, according to reportsNEED TO KNOW Two teenagers and a 65-year-old man are among those injured following a shooting in New York City's Times Square A verbal dispute between two people allegedly took place moments before the incident on Saturday, Aug. 9, The Times reported According to reports, a 17-year-old suspect was arrested near 44th Street and 7th AvenueAt least three people have been injured following a shooting in New York City's Times Square. The incident occurred at around 1:20 a.m. local time on Saturday, Aug. 9, after 'a verbal dispute between two people escalated,' the Associated Press reported, citing the New York Police Department. A 19-year-old man was shot in the right foot, along with a 65-year-old man who was shot in the left leg and an 18-year-old woman who suffered a graze gunshot wound to the neck, according to The Times. Following the shooting between West 44th Street and 7th Avenue, the victims were taken to Bellevue Hospital and are in stable condition, per the outlet. Footage shared on social media shows people fleeing outside the Hard Rock Cafe — one of the most popular tourist spots in Times Square — after gunshots were heard in the area. A car can be seen pulling over to the side of the road outside the Hard Rock cafe, per U.K. outlets The Sun and The Independent. Witnesses also alleged that they saw bullet holes in the window of a car. A 17-year-old suspect was arrested near 44th Street and 7th Avenue and taken into custody, according to The Independent. A firearm was also recovered from the scene. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. One witness posted a video on X of emergency responders at the scene tending to a man lying on the ground after the shooting, per The Times. 'Three people have been shot in the heart of Times Square,' the caption read, according to the outlet. 'Bodies are on the ground, bullet holes pierce car windows. The chaos unfolded near a major tourist area. One suspect is in custody.' Another video posted on X shows crowds of people running down the streets of Times Square after hearing gunshots. PEOPLE has reached out to the NYPD for comment. Read the original article on People
