I think the situation is a bit more complicated than it’s being painted here. I don’t think it’s a case of overvaluing property used as direct collateral for a loan (which would still be wrong, but not necessarily as big a deal).
After reading just a little bit of the civil complaint, it looks like that in at least one case, there is an actual loss to one or more banks, like this:
- Mr. Trump wants a loan to buy a property.
- Bank says the proposition involves some risk, based on the nature of the property (one bank executive called a property a “tough asset” and said the bank’s initial reaction to the application for a loan was “not enthusiastic”), which they consider in setting loan terms (interest rate, etc.).
- The proposal is to do a “recourse loan,” in which the lender may go after borrower’s assets other than the property being purchased in the event of default.
- The terms of the recourse loan depend heavily on the borrower’s net worth, as represented by annual Statements of Financial Condition; higher net worth means easier recourse for the lender, which means less risk, which means better terms (lower interest rate, etc.)
- I don’t know for sure, but I would expect the lender to get an independent opinion on the value of the property to be purchased; I don’t know that the lender would have the capability to completely assess the net worth of every borrower, and so may rely on Statements of Financial Condition and guaranties from the borrower.
- IF the borrower fraudulently represents their net worth to be higher than it truly is, the lender then provides the loan at a lower interest rate than they otherwise would, resulting in direct financial loss to the lender.
I didn’t read the whole complaint (it’s 222 pages), but that seems to be the issue in at least one part of it.