On Friday, Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio accused Donald Trump of running a “fake university”, which was attended by people who paid up to $36,000 for tuition fees, on courses that promised to teach them how to make a fortune in real estate.
Mr. Trump is currently being sued for fraud related to Trump University, which later changed its name to the “Trump Entrepreneur Initiative. According to reporter Steven Brill, who published an investigation on the case, a letter in the name of Donald J. Trump was received by 10 million people, saying that they would be taught to make money in real estate.
”Seventy-six percent of the world’s millionaires made their fortunes in real estate. Now it’s your turn. My father did it, I did it, and now I’m ready to teach you how to do it,” Trump said in an email to 10 million people, according to CNBC.
It appears that plaintiffs sued Mr. Trump and Trump University. However, the defense said that the Republican presidential candidate was not related to the conferences, even when the emails said that he would be personally involved in it. According to Steven Brill, Mr. Trump owns 98 percent of the shares of the company.
Trump University was founded in 2005, five years later it changed its name to the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative after the New York State Board of Education said it was illegal to call it a university, saying that it violated the state’s law because it was not a licensed educational institution.
According to court documents, 80,000 people attended free introductory seminars, more than 9,000 paid $1,500 each for three-day seminars and approximately 800 people paid $35,000 for “exclusive programs”, said The Washington Post. In total, all course attendees spent an estimate of $40 million.
Steven Brill added that the objective of the free two-hour seminaries was to engage middle-class and lower-middle-class people in more expensive programs. It appears that during a break, people were encouraged to call their credit card company to get their credit raised so they could make an investment, such as the $35,000 program.
Records demonstrate that a third of the people who engaged in paid courses asked for and obtained a refund. On the other hand, Donald Trump says that 98 percent of attendees were satisfied with the programs.
Senator Marco Rubio said on Friday that what people obtained from Trump University was a “cardboard cutout of Donald Trump”. The trial is expected to take place during summer, if Mr. Trump is the Republican nominee, it would affect its campaign, said, analysts.
Source: Reuters