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By Andrew Stanton
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Sam Antar, the financial expert who accused New York Attorney General Letitia James of mortgage fraud, released new documents this week as part of his investigation.
Newsweek reached out to James' office for comment via email.
Why It Matters
James, a Democrat, has become a national figure in her civil case accusing President Donald Trump and top executives at his family company, The Trump Organization, of conspiring to inflate his net worth by billions of dollars on financial statements provided to banks and insurers to facilitate deals and secure loans. New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron sided with James last year.
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Now, James is facing fraud allegations of her own. Antar alleged that she falsely stated the number of units in a Brooklyn property she owns, saying it had four units, not five, in 2021, which allowed her to access lower interest rates and other financial advantages. She has also been accused of using a property in Virginia as her primary residence to secure a better mortgage.
James has denied any wrongdoing, describing the allegations as "baseless."
"It is nothing more than a headline, nothing more than, again, retaliation against all of the actions that I have taken successfully against Donald Trump," she told Spectrum News earlier in April.
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What to Know
Antar this week posted new documents to the White Collar Fraud blog that he says support the allegations that James incorrectly stated the number of units in the Brooklyn building.
The allegations stem from a certificate of occupancy from the New York City Department of Buildings, dated January 26, 2001, which states that the building has dwellings for five families—one in the basement, one on the first floor, one on the second floor, and two on the third floor.
The New York Daily News' editorial board noted this certificate, filed by previous owners of the building, was not accurate at the time.
Antar reported a flurry of new documents that showed James did not classify it as a five-family dwelling. For instance, a document from Citibank in August 2019 described the building as a "4 family" dwelling. A June 2021 document described it as a "1 or 2 family residence of dwelling."
In total, he posted 10 mortgage documents, none of which list the building as having five units.
He also alleged there were six electric service designations at the brownstone, suggesting five units and a common area, but did not post the utility records in full. In a post on Monday, he wrote that the 2001 certificate remains "legally binding today" as it has "never been amended or suspended."
"More importantly, if James believed the Certificate of Occupancy was incorrect, she had a legal obligation to file an Alt-1 application to formally change the unit count—something she has never done in 24 years of ownership," the post reads.
Antar is a former accountant who was convicted of fraud related to the Crazy Eddie electronics chain and has since been involved in forensic accounting on other white-collar crime cases.
What People Are Saying
New York Attorney General Letitia James told Spectrum News: "Let me just say to all New Yorkers and all Americans: the allegations are baseless. The allegations are nothing more than a revenge tour, and as you mentioned, my office was successful in securing a $454 million judgment against Donald Trump and others for exaggerating the value of his assets. He engaged in a pattern and practice of fraud, and the interest is accruing each and every day whilst the case is on appeal in the first department.
Kyle Welch, an associate professor at George Washington University's School of Business who specializes in financial fraud, previously told Newsweek: "The irony here is almost too on-the-nose. Letitia James built her 'nobody is above the law' brand by prosecuting Trump for inflating his financial condition—statements that came with disclaimers, involved banks that said they weren't harmed, and still resulted in a half-billion-dollar fraud conviction."
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani previously told Newsweek: "There's potential mortgage fraud because your mortgage rates for your primary residence are gonna be lower than your mortgage rate for a secondary resident, like the rental or vacation home, so she said this with a primary residence to get a better mortgage."
Sam Antar, in a post on Thursday, wrote: "Even if the property physically contains only four units, representing it as such on mortgage documents directly contradicts the legal Certificate of Occupancy — creating a fundamental misrepresentation on loan applications."
What Happens Next
The Federal Housing Finance Agency has referred James to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi for prosecution. Whether this amounts to a formal criminal investigation is yet to be seen.
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