Economics
Fifth Avenue Highrise Trial Pulls Iran Standoff Into Trump Era
- U.S. wants to seize NYC tower, assets worth about $500 million
- Foundation director touted mission in country of ‘Great Satan’
Jared Kushner’s Rise to Power Mirrors Trump's
This article is for subscribers only.
Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue packs a world of intrigue into a few blocks. Trump Tower at 57th Street was the launch pad for Donald Trump’s run to the White House. Four blocks south, 666 Fifth Ave. is a white elephant that has pushed owner Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-and-law and adviser, into a well-scrutinized hunt for rich investors.
Then there’s the nearly decade-long legal melodrama over a 36-story building across the street from Kushner’s tower. U.S. prosecutors are in the home stretch of an attempt to seize 650 Fifth Ave. and related assets from a charity that owns it, alleging the organization is a front for Iran’s government and that it violated economic sanctions against Iran since 1995.