Trump's tax returns turned over to Manhattan district attorney

New York [US], February 26 : Tax records, which former US President Donald Trump tried to keep secret for years are now in the hands of the New York district attorney.
According to CNN, prosecutors obtained the records on Monday, just hours after the US Supreme Court denied Trump's effort to keep the records private, a spokesperson for the district attorney said.
As per sources, the millions of pages of documents contain the former President's tax returns spanning from January 2011 to August 2019, as well as financial statements, engagement agreements, documents relating to the preparation and review of tax returns, and work papers and communications related to the tax returns.
CNN reports that the documents handed by Trump's long-time accounting firm Mazars won't be released to the public because they are subject to grand jury secrecy rules, their delivery caps off an extraordinary 17-month quest by the former President and his lawyers to block investigators from obtaining the records.
New York District Attorney Cy Vance is investigating whether the former President and the Trump Organization engaged in tax fraud, insurance fraud and "other schemes to defraud, including potentially providing false information to financial institutions or banks about the value of certain buildings and assets".
CNN further reported that Vance and his fellow prosecutors will be able to dig deeper into investigative theories, pursue interviews with key witnesses and determine whether they believe any state laws have been violated since the records are now in hand.
"Our office obtained the records on Monday," said Vance spokesman Danny Frost as quoted by the news outlet.
According to multiple sources familiar with the investigation, Vance's office has been seeking a slew of other documents. They subpoenaed records and interviewed employees at Deutsche Bank, one of Trump's creditors, about loans given to him, and insurance broker Aon.
Deutsche Bank has loaned Trump more than $300 million. CNN further reported that prosecutors have even subpoenaed Ladder Capital, which has loaned the Trump Organization over USD 100 million, and the Trump Organization for records relating to fees paid to consultants, including Ivanka Trump.
Trump issued a statement, in which he slammed the US Supreme Court for not blocking New York prosecutors from obtaining his tax records.
Earlier on Monday, US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer declined to issue a stay for a lower court ruling in favour of former President Donald Trump disclosing his tax returns to a New York grand jury.
"The Supreme Court never should have let this 'fishing expedition' happen, but they did," Trump said on Monday. "This is something which has never happened to a President before, it is all Democrat-inspired in a totally Democrat location, New York City and State, completely controlled and dominated by a heavily reported enemy of mine, Governor Andrew Cuomo."
Monday's decision significantly weakens Trump's ability to protect his tax returns from the grand jury subpoena, barring further - but unlikely - US Supreme Court interventions in the case.
New York City District Attorney Cyrus Vance is seeking Trump's tax returns dating back to 2011.
Trump has contended that an August 2019 grand jury subpoena to his accounting form Mazars USA to provide his tax returns was overly broad and issued in bad faith.
Last summer, the Supreme Court rejected Trump's earlier request to block the order, claiming that his position as US president did not shield him from complying with the subpoena.