Analysis by WorldTribune Staff, March 27, 2024
Is New York Attorney General Letitia James firing up a civil fraud lawsuit against “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart?
Don’t bet on it.
In 2014, Stewart sold his 6,280-square-foot lower Manhattan duplex to financier Parag Pande for $17.5 million. Stewart, as it turns out, overvalued his home by a whopping 829 percent.
According to 2013-2014 assessor records obtained by the New York Post, Stewart’s property had the estimated market-value of $1.882 million. The actual assessor valuation was even lower, at $847,174.
Unless he starts wearing a MAGA hat on air, there’s no chance Stewart gets prosecuted for fraud.
But what takes this story to the next level is the fact that Stewart during his Monday night broadcast slammed Donald Trump for overvaluing his properties, saying what Trump did was “not victimless.”
Stewart insisted that “money isn’t infinite. A loan that goes to the liar doesn’t go to someone who’s giving a more honest evaluation. So the system becomes incentivized for corruption.”
Stewart also claimed that failing to declare a higher market value on a property, while paying taxes based on a lower assessed value, constitutes fraudulent behavior.
“The attorney general of New York knew that Trump’s property values were inflated because when it came time to pay taxes, Trump undervalued the very same properties,” Stewart added. “It was all part of a very specific real estate practice known as lying.”
The New York Post reported that records show Stewart paid significantly lower property taxes, which were calculated based on his assessor valuation price — “precisely what he called Trump out for doing in his Monday monologue.”
The New York assessor valuation on Stewart’s former penthouse, The Post noted, “is the exact same citation method and metric that New York Attorney General Letitia James used to value Trump’s private and personal properties, and then sued him for inflating those assets.”
This includes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, known as his main residence, which was assessed at only $18 million at the time. Real estate brokers had valued the property at 50 times more than that amount.
Same for his private 200-acre New York family estate in Westchester, which was assessed between $30 million and $56 million. Trump had valued the property, known as Seven Springs, at $261 million.
Last month, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to pay $355 million — and temporarily banned him from doing business in the state — relying heavily on the assessed valuations of the properties to determine the ruling.
By the way, Pande, who purchased the penthouse from Stewart, resold the property at a nearly 26% loss, according to the Real Deal — at just over $13 million — in 2021.
Did @jonstewart commit fraud when he sold his penthouse for $17.5M?
NY listed its market value at $1.8M an AV at around 800k
Who did he He defraud??
I am SHOCKED
SHOCKED pic.twitter.com/9okis96VQP
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) March 26, 2024
Report: Trump critic Jon Stewart overvalued his NY home by 829 percent added by Editor Two on
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