June 10 (UPI) — The office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is “looking into” the Eric Trump Foundation.
Eric Soufer, a spokesman for Schneiderman’s office, said it began examining the charitable foundation founded by President Donald Trump‘s son, Eric Trump, after a report in Forbes that raised questions about practices by the foundation which seemed to violate state laws.
“The attorney general’s office is looking into the issues raised by this report,” Soufer told Forbes.
Schneiderman’s office initially opened the inquiry following the Forbes story which examined the Eric Trump Foundation’s use of Trump family-owned golf courses for charitable events. Although Trump said the courses did not charge his foundation to conduct the events, tax filings showed that the charity did make payments to his father’s properties.
The attorney general’s office also noted that Trump’s charity had already held an event in New York under the name “Curetivity,” but the name had not officially been changed with New York charity regulations.
A formal investigation by Schneiderman into President Trump’s charity, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, has been underway for months but the office said the new inquiry into the president’s son’s foundation was at an early stage and could not be considered a formal investigation.
A spokesman for Eric Trump highlighted the foundation’s charitable work and said it would cooperate with the review.
“During the past decade, the Eric Trump Foundation has raised over $16.3 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, including more than $3.6 million to St. Jude and other worthwhile causes just in 2016 alone,” the spokesman said. “The foundation intends to cooperate fully with the attorney general’s review, and looks forward to a productive and open dialogue with the attorney general’s office to address any questions it may have.”
