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November 23, 2024
Trump's private bankers left Deutsche Bank over real estate deal
World

Trump’s private bankers left Deutsche Bank over real estate deal

By Jason Diego / February 5, 2021

Germany’s biggest bank said in US regulatory filings that Rosemary Vrablic and Dominic Scalzi were “permitted to resign” effective December 31 following allegations that they engaged in “undisclosed activities” tied to a property investment that included the “purchase of a property from a client-managed entity.”
The bankers also engaged in the “formation of an unapproved outside entity to hold the investment,” Deutsche Bank (DB) said in filings to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

The allegations relate to the bankers’ purchase of an apartment in 2013 from Bergel 715 Associates, a company in which Kushner, a Deutsche Bank client, was a minority investor, according to a person familiar with the matter. The purchase was not disclosed to the bank and violated its internal policies, the person said.

New York City property records show that Vrablic, Scalzi and an associate purchased a condo at 715 Park Avenue from Bergel 715 for $1.5 million that year.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment on Thursday. Attorneys for Vrablic and Scalzi also declined to comment. The regulatory disclosures were first reported by the New York Times.

Vrablic and Scalzi had worked closely together for years since joining Deutsche Bank. Vrablic was a trusted contact to the Trump Organization and Kushner, and she took charge of Deutsche Bank’s private banking relationship with Trump after its commercial division stopped doing business with him.

In a statement released in late December, Vrablic said, “I’ve chosen to resign my position with the bank effective December 31 and am looking forward to my retirement.”

Deutsche Bank has decided no longer to do business with Trump, a source told CNN Business in January, a move that will deprive him of a major source of loans that once helped fund his golf courses and hotels.

The Trump Organization owes Deutsche Bank approximately $340 million in the coming years, said the source.

Trump has several outstanding loans with Deutsche Bank, according to financial disclosure documents he was required to file as president. Trump has borrowed tens of millions of dollars for Trump National Doral, his golf resort in south Florida. Deutsche Bank has also provided loans for the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago and the Trump International Hotel in Washington, which opened in 2016. The loans mature in 2023 and 2024.

— Matt Egan contributed reporting.

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