The family business · Before politics · № 3
Trump Organization collected rent from Iran's state-controlled Bank Melli at the GM Building, 1998 to 2003
- Date
- , Reported by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the Center for Public Integrity
- Subject
- Iran
- Benefit
- Real estate and licensing
- Government
- Iran
- Beneficiary
- Trump Organization
- Topic
- Ethics & conflicts
- Era
- Before politics
What happened
When the Trump Organization bought the General Motors Building on Fifth Avenue in July 1998, it inherited Bank Melli, one of Iran's largest state-controlled banks, as a tenant and kept the bank on until Trump lost control of the building in September 2003, according to public records reviewed by ICIJ and the Center for Public Integrity in a September 2016 report. The Treasury Department listed Bank Melli's GM Building office among institutions owned or controlled by the Iranian government from 1999 through 2003, and a court document reviewed by ICIJ indicated the bank's rent on more than 8,000 square feet may have topped half a million dollars a year. U.S. authorities alleged in 2007 that the bank had been used to obtain material for Iran's nuclear program and to send money to the Quds Force. The Treasury Department, the Trump campaign and Bank Melli all declined to say whether a license permitted the rent payments under the U.S. embargo. The Trump campaign declined to answer questions; spokeswoman Hope Hicks said Trump had committed to putting his assets in a blind trust, and longtime executive George Ross said he had no knowledge of the tenant. Freedom House rated Iran Not Free in every edition covering 1998 through 2003.