More dirty laundry of the past is drawn against GOP-presumptive candidate, Donald Trump, as he continues to lead the U.S. Presidential campaign race. The most recent of which is the unsealing of documents and testimonies that revealed to the public for the first time exclusive claims of fraud involving the defunct Trump University.
On-charge Judge Gonzalo Curiel ruled that the complaints of Trump University's former students, inside scoop of former sales managers, and a sales guide for employees among other documents be unsealed. The statements cried of fraud, deception, and not getting what they were promised of from the almost $35,000 they paid to learn Trump's secrets for his success in the real estate industry.
"I resigned from my position in May of 2007 because I believed that Trump University was engaging in misleading, fraudulent and dishonest conduct. I found it particularly offensive that, while Trump University claimed it wanted to help consumers make money in real estate, in fact Trump University was only interested in selling every person the most expensive seminars they possibly could," a sales manager of the school in 2007, Ronald Schnackenberg, wrote in his testimony.
In the said sworn statement, Schnackenberg also slammed Donald Trump who he never saw once in the campus for the seven months he worked at Trump University. He was initially briefed to sell Gary Eldred's "Real Estate Investor Program," an online interactive class, but according to him, the "business drastically changed to a "live events" and seminars driven by high-pressure front-end salesmen, inexperienced in real estate, making high-pressure sales."
"They were unqualified people posing as Donald Trump's right-hand men. They were teaching methods that were unethical, and they had had little to no experience flipping properties or doing real estate deals. It was a facade, a total lie," wrote Jason Nicholas, another former sales associate of Trump University who testified as per The Wall Street Journal.
Included in the batch of unsealed documents is the 2009 playbook for sales managers to follow in order to win a potential client's yes. The playbook instructed Trump University's sales team to "not sell products, benefits or solutions" but to "sell feelings" (via Fortune).
"You must be very aggressive during these conversations to in order to push them out of their comfort zones," the playbook advised, "If they complain about the price, remind them that Trump is the best! This is the last real estate investment they will ever need to make" (via Fortune).
Donald Trump is currently facing two California and one New York lawsuit accusing Trump University of fraud and deception. He has denied any truth to the claims with his legal counsel and campaign personnel confident that alumni of the business school were completely satisfied with the education they received. In fact, some of the documents that were released hold positive remarks for Trump University (via The Wall Street Journal).
As per The Wall Street Journal, former director of operations, Mark Covais said that among 10,000 written evaluations, 97 percent gave Trump University a rating of 4.85 and higher. This will be used as evidence when the case goes into trial on November of this year.
Attorneys of The Washington Post filed a motion for the documents relating to the case be disclosed to the public, a request that was granted by Judge Gonzalo Curiel. However, on Tuesday Judge Curiel ordered the resealing of some documents because they revealed private information (via RT).
The damage has been done however, and the testimonies of former employees as well as the playbook's controversial guidelines revealed much about the operations of Trump University. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton took the opportunity and in a campaign rally said that the documents prove that "Donald Trump himself is a fraud" (via CNN).
Do you think that Trump University gave false promises to its students or did it serve its purpose of helping the enrollees succeed in the real estate industry? Sound off your thoughts in the Comments section below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.
