Trumps accused of inflating value of Scottish golf resorts

A fraud lawsuit filed against Donald Trump and three of his children in New York has accused the family firm of knowingly inflating the valuations of its Scottish properties.

It is alleged the Trump Organization lied about the value of real estate to get loans and pay less tax.

The legal action has included claims about both Trump resorts in South Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire.

Mr Trump has dismissed the lawsuit as "another witch hunt".

The lawsuit has been brought by New York attorney general Letitia James, who is the state's most senior lawyer, after a three-year civil investigation.

The former US president's eldest children, Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric Trump, were also named as defendants alongside two executives at the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney.

Allegations of acts of fraud between 2011-21 in the 222-page document included specific claims about Trump International Golf Links Aberdeen, on the Menie estate near Balmedie, and Trump Turnberry in South Ayrshire.

It said the Trump Organization "vastly overstated the value" of undeveloped land and "improperly and materially inflated the value of the golf course" at the Aberdeenshire resort.

The lawsuit also claims the firm produced "materially false and misleading valuations" for the Turnberry resort.

The allegations form part of a much wider legal action which claims the company lied "by billions".

A lawyer for Donald Trump said "absolutely no wrongdoing has taken place" and accused New York officials of "unchecked abuse of authority".

Blasting the lawsuit on his Truth Social site, Mr Trump branded Ms James, who is black, a racist.

"Another Witch Hunt by a racist Attorney General, Letitia James, who failed in her run for Governor, getting almost zero support from the public," he wrote.

The document outlining the allegations filed by the New York County Clerk on Wednesday includes an eight-page summary of claims related to the Aberdeen resort and a further page about Trump Turnberry.

It said annual valuations of the golf course and undeveloped land on the Balmedie property were "derived each year using improper methods and based on facts and assumptions that were materially false and misleading".

It add they "were known by Mr Trump and others within the Trump Organization to be materially false and misleading".

The lawsuit stated the loss-making business, which opened in 2012, should have been valued using an income-based approach rather than a fixed-assets approach - described as basing the value on Mr Trump's capital contributions and adjusting by a "multiplier".

It also alleges that the company made misleading claims about the homes that were to be built on the site.

It refers to the "inflated home sale scheme" as "particularly egregious in light of Mr Trump's decision... to indefinitely postpone all development plans" after the Scottish government approved nearby offshore wind farm plans.

Trump Turnberry also operated at a loss and "should have been valued at a much lower figure", prosecutors claimed.

Mr Trump opened his first golf resort on the Menie estate in 2012 - amid opposition over potential environmental damage - and later tried to stop a wind farm being built off the coast, arguing it would spoil the view.

In 2014, he bought the Turnberry golf resort from a Dubai-based company.

He handed control of both courses to his sons Donald Jr and Eric shortly before he became president in 2017, but he retained a financial interest.

Mr Trump promised to spend £1bn and create 6,000 jobs developing the Aberdeenshire golf course, but has yet to build the promised five-star hotel, and has come under fire for damage to what was a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) prior to the development of the golf course.

The Scottish government has previously faced questions about how Mr Trump managed to finance the purchases of the golf courses.

A legal bid failed last year to force Holyrood to investigate how the company paid for them.

Lawyers for human rights organisation AVAAZ argued ministers were wrong not to pursue an unexplained wealth order probe against the former US president.

It wanted a probe into the financing of both golf resorts but the Court of Session found that Scottish ministers had acted lawfully and in line with legislation.

Donald Trump's mother came from the Isle of Lewis, and he is said to have spoken fondly of his Scottish ancestry.