Former President Donald Trump has agreed to sit for a deposition in a lawsuit filed by investors who allege he participated in a marketing scam involving NBC’s “The Celebrity Apprentice.”
Mr. Trump is scheduled for a June 16 deposition. His adult children also are named in the civil suit. Donald Trump Jr. is scheduled for a May 10 deposition, and Eric Trump will appear on May 12. Ivanka Trump will sit for a deposition, but the date has not been set.
A group of investors filed the suit accusing Mr. Trump and his children of fraudulently luring people to invest in the marketing companies ACN Opportunity LLC and Business Strategies Group via “The Celebrity Apprentice.”
Plaintiffs in the class-action case successfully sued for access to footage from two episodes of the reality game show, in which they say Mr. Trump endorsed the company without disclosing he was being paid to do so, according to the complaint filed in 2018.
“In exchange for large, secret payments from these companies, the Trump Enterprise deliberately mislead consumers by delivering a common and consistent message that the prospective investors would have a reasonable probability of commercial success, rather than because the Trump Enterprise was being paid,” the plaintiffs argue in the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The investors said they lost thousands of dollars investing in ACN, which sold video phones. Mr. Trump promoted the company on “The Celebrity Apprentice.”
The lawsuit names the Trump Corp., the former president and his adult children as defendants.
Mr. Trump’s attorneys say the former president is not responsible for the actions of the companies because he did not own them.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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