GOP frontrunner Donald Trump is contending with multiple civil lawsuits alleging fraud at his now defunct Trump University. Now, Trump will have to handle another case against his virtual “university” — this time, from the New York Attorney General’s office, the New York Daily News reported.
Four judges for the New York Appellate Division unanimously ruled on Tuesday that the office is authorized to pursue the fraud case. The New York Attorney General’s office first filed the lawsuit in 2013.
The “university,” which allowed students to purchase expensive CDs and DVDs, was not actually accredited. The lawsuit charges that Trump University “repeatedly deceived students into thinking that they were attending a legally chartered ‘university’” and misled students into believing the so-called experts on investing in real estate would be hand-picked by Trump, according to the New York Daily News.
The New York Department of Education sent Trump University a letter in demanding that it stop calling itself a university. The name was later changed to Trump Entrepreneur Initiative.
In an interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, Wallace asked Trump about the claim that one of the real estate experts was a manager at a Buffalo Wild Wings, and Trump responded by saying that “many” of the experts were handpicked by him. Trump has also repeatedly told news outlets that Trump University had an A rating from the Better Business Bureau. According to Politifact, that claim is inaccurate, and the company’s BBB rating “fluctuated between an A+ and a D-.” But the last time, the BBB gave the university a rating, in 2010, it gave a D-.
One of the ongoing civil cases against Trump University may force the candidate to take a break from campaigning this spring and appear as a witness in court.