NY Fraud Case Against Trump University to Go to Trial

Trump University is back in the news, as a New York judge has ruled that the state's fraud case against the for-profit enterprise for real-estate investors will go to trial.

The decision raises the possibility that the GOP front-runner for president could be testifying during the campaign. Trump won 60 percent of the vote in the New York Republican primary April 19. And he is favored in primaries being held today in Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.

SEE: Live Results: Patch's Full Presidential Primary Coverage For PA, MD, CT, RI and DE

Trump faces at least two lawsuits — one from the New York Attorney General’s Office in 2013 and a class-action lawsuit filed in San Diego federal court in 2010 — saying that he defrauded students out of millions of dollars.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said the unlicensed program formerly known as Trump University was a classic bait-and-switch.

Trump University, a Donald education program, promised “hand-picked instructors” who would teach students Trump’s real estate tricks and have them making money in no time.

But the “university,” according to two lawsuits still wending through the courts:

1. was not an actual university;
2. did not include instructors that Trump picked or vetted;
3. probably involved little to no oversight from Trump himself; and
4. actually caused students to go into thousands of dollars of debt with no real skills learned or deals completed.

Trump has said it was a great program that its students loved.

The ruling came from New York County Supreme Court Judge Cynthia Kern, who declined the AG's argument for summary judgment.

According to Politico New York, the judge's ruling was welcomed by Jeffrey Goldman, Trump's lawyer, who said he wanted a jury trial.

Schneiderman issued the following statement after the hearing in New York State Supreme Court on the case against Donald Trump and Trump University:

I am very pleased the judge has indicated her intention to move as expeditiously as possible to trial, as thousands of Mr. Trump’s alleged victims have been waiting years for relief from his fraud. We believe that Mr. Trump and Mr. Sexton will be essential witnesses at trial. As we will prove in court, Donald Trump and his sham for-profit college defrauded thousands of students out of millions of dollars.

LEARN MORE: Trump University: No 'Trump,' No 'University,' Lawsuit Says

Image via Gage Skidmore, Flickr, used under Creative Commons