President-elect Donald Trump is close to a settlement agreement for Trump University fraud lawsuits in California and New York, according to a source who spoke with CNBC on Friday. As terms of the reported settlement, Trump will admit no wrongdoing. The total sum of the settlement is expected to be between $20 and $25 million, the news outlet reported.
In a statement, a spokesperson for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who brought the case against Trump [TRDataCustom] in New York, said the office “has always been open to a settlement that fairly compensates the many victims of Trump University who have been waiting years for a resolution.”
Lawsuits in both states were filed on behalf of former students of Trump’s “university,” a series of classes designed to teach would-be real estate investors the ropes of the property biz. The lawsuits claim, among other things, that Trump University misled customers into believing that they would be receiving classes from teachers hand-picked by Donald Trump himself, teachers who allegedly pressured students into buying the most expensive class packages, including a $35,000 “Gold Elite” program. Schneiderman, who called Trump University a “bait-and-switch” scheme, sued Trump for $40 million.
Trump, who brags about his unwillingness to settle litigation, previously refused to settle these suits. He several times moved to dismiss them, but that was before he was elected as the 45th President of the United States on Tuesday, Nov. 8. In a May outburst, Trump suggested that California Gonzalo Judge Curiel’s Mexican heritage made him too biased to properly preside over the case in San Diego. Last week, Trump lawyers filed a motion to postpone the California trial until after his January inauguration. [CNBC] — Will Parker