Trump University case reopens in NY amid Super Tuesday

An appeals court in the US state of New York has issued a ruling, allowing a fraud case in regard to the now-defunct Trump University to proceed.

Based on the ruling by a New York State Appellate Court, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman can prosecute the for-profit online education venture for fraud.

The development came as US voters were heading to the polls across 11 states to cast their ballots in a day-long contest known as Super Tuesday, in which the billionaire real estate mogul, running for the Republican Party, expected a victory.

Schneiderman is now "authorized to bring a cause of action for fraud."

The university, which operated between 2004 and 2010, has been accused of being a sham aimed at ripping off students through a “bait and switch.”

The students, some 5,000 across the country, were initially lured through “free” seminars, where the instructors steered them into higher cost ones.

"Although Trump University speakers represented that the three-day seminar would teach students all they needed to know to be successful real estate investors, the instructors at those three-day seminars then engaged in a 'bait and switch,' telling students that they needed to attend yet another seminar for an additional $5,000 in order to learn more about particular lenders," the suit said.

“Their deceptive and unlawful practices, (Trump and the school) intentionally misled over 5,000 individuals nationwide, including over 600 New Yorkers, into paying as much as $35,000 each to participate in live seminars and mentorship programs with the promise of learning Donald Trump's real estate investing techniques.”

In one of Trump University’s infomercials, he had also told students that his “professors” were “handpicked” by him personally.

According to the suit, Trump and his school "repeatedly deceived students into thinking that they were attending a legally chartered 'university'" and "intentionally misrepresented, through advertisements and oral misrepresentations, that prospective students would be taught by successful real estate 'experts' who were 'handpicked' by Mr. Trump when, as alleged by petitioner, not a single instructor was actually handpicked by Mr. Trump, not a single instructor was actually handpicked by Mr. Trump."

The appeals court is revisiting the case amid fears that Trump may turn out to be the nominee of the Republican Party, many of whose members have slammed the reality TV star for his controversial viewpoints.

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