is expected to return Tuesday to the New York City courtroom where the future of his business empire is being decided.transformed what would normally be slow-paced accounting fraud case into what New York Attorney General Letitia James described as "The Trump Show."
James alleges that Trump inflated the value of his assets in these statements not only to increase his net worth -- thereby bumping his ranking on Forbes list of the wealthiest Americans -- but also to obtain more favorable loans, guarantee lower insurance premiums, and satisfy loan conditions tied to his net worth.
Accountants from Mazars and Whitley Penn -- accounting firms that previously worked with Trump to issue the financial statements -- testified that Trump Organizations employees were responsible for providing the information on which the statements were based. While Engoron has already found evidence of false statements, it's been unclear from testimony what role Trump himself played in the alleged scheme to defraud.
Trump Organization executive Patrick Birney testified that Weisselberg told him that Trump wanted to see his net worth "go up," supporting the attorney general's claim that Trump "made known through Mr. Weisselberg that he wanted his net worth on the Statements to increase." However, Trump's lawyers have argued that Birney's testimony was hearsay and should be stricken from the record.