Real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield said it reached an interim agreement giving the brokerage through Wednesday to turn over documents related to a New York state investigation of the Trump Organization and avoid a court-imposed daily fine of $10,000 that accompanied a contempt citation.
Cushman’s arrangement with the New York Attorney General’s Office, agreed to on July 8, gives the brokerage more time to produce material previously subpoenaed by the attorney general in an investigation of financial reporting and other business practices of Trump’s real estate company.
The Trump company owns properties nationwide including offices, hotels and golf courses and was represented by Cushman in relation to several properties in the inquiry. New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron last week held the brokerage in contempt of court and ordered the fine, originally scheduled to take effect July 7, as the court ruled the company missed a June 27 deadline to turn over subpoenaed documents and failed to seek an extension in a timely manner ahead of the deadline.
Under the interim agreement, the attorney general’s office agreed to cooperate with Cushman to dissolve the contempt order and will not seek to collect fines, provided Cushman turns over the documents on time, the brokerage said. The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request from CoStar News to comment.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with the Office of the Attorney General that relates to an interim stay of the contempt ruling,” Chicago-based Cushman & Wakefield said in a statement. “Since the beginning of the New York Attorney General’s investigation in 2019, Cushman & Wakefield has endeavored to cooperate with the OAG’s investigation, responding to multiple document subpoenas and eight testimony subpoenas."
It added that “we will continue to work to produce the documents requested by the OAG by Wednesday, July 13, in accordance with our agreement.”