New York State Attorney General, Letitia James, speaks during a news conference, to announce criminal justice reform in New York City, May 21, 2021.
[The stream has ended. Read CNBC's full coverage of James' lawsuit here.]
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has been conducting a civil investigation of former President Donald Trump's company, announced a major lawsuit of Trump, three of his adult children and his company over widespread fraud claims.
James' announcement comes nearly a week after The New York Times reported that she had rejected an offer from Trump's lawyers to settle her probe of the Trump Organization, which is based in Manhattan.
James' office was investigating the company for possibly fraudulently misstating the value of various real estate assets to receive financial benefits in the form of more favorable loan and insurance rates, and tax breaks.
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and accused James, who is a Democrat, of being motivated by politics to investigate the former Republican president.
In August, Trump appeared for a deposition conducted by James's lawyers. He invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 440 times in refusing to answer questions under oath.
Money Report
Donald Trump Jr., who runs the Trump Organization with his brother Eric, answered questions from the investigators under oath earlier in August, as did their sister Ivanka Trump. Ivanka previously was an executive at the company.
Eric Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right more than 500 times when he was questioned under oath in the probe in October 2020, according to a court filing in January.
