Testifies about discrepancies

Trump accountant testifies about discrepancies in the price of Ivanka Trump's penthouse

Jeremy Herb

The New York attorney general’s office asked Donald Bender, Trump’s former accountant at Mazars, about the price of a penthouse apartment for Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump.

Bender testified that his job was not to audit Trump’s financial statement, but “from time to time,” he would point out errors to Trump Organization officials on financial documents.

One of the examples he recalled flagging an error was when Ivanka Trump had an option to buy a penthouse apartment at Trump Park Avenue. Bender said that the value on Trump’s financial schedule was different than what was listed in Ivanka Trump’s option.

Bender said he remembered changing the asset value two different years.

The discrepancies were cited in the attorney general’s lawsuit last fall against Trump, alleging that Ivanka Trump was given the option to purchase the unit “lease that also granted her a rental payment substantially below the market rent for similar units in the building." 

"Ms. Trump’s rental agreement for Penthouse A in Trump Park Avenue included an option to purchase the unit for $8,500,000. But in the 2011 and 2012 Statements of Financial Condition, this unit was valued at $20,820,000—approximately two and a half times as much as the option price, with no disclosure of the existence of the option," the lawsuit says.

Ivanka Trump was listed as one of the defendants in the attorney general's initial lawsuit, but was removed by an appeals court.