Trump foundation ordered to stop collecting money in New York

New York's attorney general slapped a "cease and desist" order on the Donald J. Trump Foundation, banning it from soliciting donations in New York for failing to have the proper permit. Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman also ordered the Republican presidential nominee to provide the state with all documentation related to the foundation's "solicitation and fundraising activity in New York in other years."

Failure to comply, Schneiderman wrote, "shall be deemed to be a continuing fraud upon the people of the state of New York."

Trump's campaign said in a statement that they will comply with the attorney general but that they are "very concerned about possible political motives" behind the investigation. Earlier this month, when Schneiderman, a Democrat, first launched the probe into the foundation, Trump called him a "partisan hack" who was operating in favor of his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

The probe is the latest setback for the Trump Foundation. Earlier this year, the Washington Post revealed that the foundation had failed to deliver on a promised donation of $1,000,000 to a charity supporting veterans. The Post also reported that Trump may have used foundation money to settle personal debts and disputes, including a golf tournament and a legal battle between the town of Palm Beach and his gilded Florida country club known as Mar-a-Lago.

He has also been accused of directing personal income into the foundation via purported "donors." Charitable organizations are exempt from paying tax. Tax experts interviewed by the Post suggested that the property mogul had been using the arrangement to avoid paying tax on his own wealth. Trump's campaign responded to the Post by explaining an obscure loophole in tax law which would, in theory, mean he wasn't breaking any laws.

The 990 forms for the foundation show that the lineup of donors was comprised of just six people in 2013. Richard Levine, for example, one of Trump's favorite golf partners, donated $10,000. Levine told Bloomberg that he donated out of gratitude, because the presidential candidate had given him so many free flights on his private jets.

That same year, the Clancy Law Firm — which is located in the Trump Building on Wall Street — gave $100,000 to the foundation. Richard Ebers, one of Trump's most generous benefactors, also emptied his pockets for the foundation that year, giving $435,832. Fortune described Ebers as "the ticket broker to tycoons." From 2011 to 2014, Ebers gave a total of $1.887 million to Trump. Individuals familiar with the money-changing-hands process told the Post that Ebers had purchased goods and services from Trump, and that it was possible the real estate mogul had given him instructions to pay the foundation rather than him.

Trump hasn't given to the foundation since 2008, and many of the recipients of the money said they had never personally received a donation from the property mogul himself.