How is Bon Jovi involved in Trump’s latest fraud woes? Like this.

Back in 2014, Donald Trump started making noises about becoming an NFL owner. Specifically, he wanted to buy the Buffalo Bills. But despite claims that he was uber-rich, he didn’t actually have the cash to buy the team which had a price tag of somewhere around US$1 billion. Even though Trump planned to finance $800 million of that, he couldn’t just write a cheque.

First, he needed a letter from his bank saying he was good for this loan. At some point, a document was presented saying that yes, the Trumpster was worth US$5.1 billion, so buying the team with financing shouldn’t be a problem. But then another letter was presented, saying that Trump was worth more than that. EIGHT billion, in fact.

See where this is headed? Inflated net worth via inflated real estate values?

At the same time, Jon Bon Jovi was working on his own purchase plan with some partners out of Toronto. Trump had some of his people spread rumours that if Bon Jovi’s group was successful, he was going to move the team to Toronto. (Fact check: false.)

When these stories hit the Buffalo press, fans went apesh*t. You might remember the city turning on him with boycotts against his music. It got so bad that he said that he’d never play Buffalo again.

In the end, the team went to Terry Pegula, owner of the Buffalo Sabres for US$1.4 billion.

This underhanded smear by Trump against Bon Jovi has come up again in the big fraud case filed by the State of New York against Trump. Vice has the full story.