Donald Trump's 'most valuable' building is home to dozens of criminals

(Image credit: CC BY: KatieThebeau)

last updated 22 June 2016

When facing mockery over his failed business ventures, Donald Trump has responded by touting the success of the Trump Building at 40 Wall St., his most valuable property. However, the reputation of those that dwell inside might be a little more, well, dubious.

Since Trump took over the building in 1995, Bloomberg discovered that "prosecutors have filed criminal charges against at least 29 people connected to 12 alleged scams tied to [40 Wall St.]. Nine other firms have faced serious regulatory claims. Authorities prevailed in most but not all of the cases." Additionally, "no U.S. address has been home to more of the unregistered brokerages that investors complain about, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission's current public alert list."

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A cheap way to get a 40 Wall St. address is to grab space on the 28th floor, which is broken up into small offices. The firms listed in the lobby directory for that floor include Your Trading Room, a foreign-exchange operation ordered shut by an Australian court in 2012; Asian AIM Incubator Co., which Malaysian regulators put on a list of possible scams; Stilas International Law, whose founder was banned from practicing law in Virginia; and Ero Capital Corp., run by a man convicted of credit-card fraud.Even one of the four Cushman & Wakefield brokers who handle leasing for the skyscraper is a felon. Jeffrey Lichtenberg admitted accepting a bribe in 1999 after an investigation of bid-rigging in the construction business. He declined to comment. [Bloomberg]

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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