US President-elect Donald Trump agrees to pay $25m to settle Trump University lawsuits
US-President elect Donald Trump has reached an agreement to settle lawsuits in connection with his Trump University for $25m (£20m).
If the settlement, announced yesterday, is approved, it will put to rest fraud allegations brought forward by former students at the now-defunct for-profit education company that offered real estate training from 2005 to 2010.
New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman, who claims more than 5,000 students across the US were defrauded out of $40m, brought forward one case against Trump, while two class action suits were launched against the soon-to-be Republican president in California.
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Former students claim they were lured by false promises into paying up to $35,000 to learn Trump's real estate investing "secrets" from his "hand-picked" instructors.
Schneiderman's 2013 suit against the school claimed it was a scam designed to make money for Trump, though he has vigorously denied any allegations of wrongdoing.
The final settlement amount is more than the $20m agreement he was expected to reach. It will be split into a $21m payment to reimburse those in the California class action suits, New York will get $3m to repay people who were not covered by the California lawsuits and up to $1m will go towards paying a penalty for violating New York education laws.
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The former reality TV star and property mogul, who was voted the 45th President of the United States less than two weeks ago, is in the middle of putting together his cabinet ahead of taking office in January 2017.
Meanwhile President (for now) Barack Obama is on his farewell tour of Europe.