Trump Lawyer's NYC Cab Firms Hit With Tax Warrants

NEW YORK, NY — It's not just the feds who are going after Michael Cohen, the embattled attorney to President Donald Trump. New York State officials this week filed new tax warrants this week against six taxi companies owned by Cohen or his family, records show.

The warrants filed in Manhattan seek more than $77,000 in unpaid taxes from the companies — N.Y. Badge Taxi Corp., N.Y. Funky Taxi Corp., Mad Dog Cab Corp., Martha Cab Corporation, Monica Taxi Corp. and LAF Hacking Corp.

Sixteen companies owned by Cohen and his family have more than 30 taxi medallions, the pricy licenses to operate cabs in New York City. Fourteen of those companies have open tax warrants worth nearly $174,000, including those filed this week, according to state Department of State records available online.

The new warrants, first reported by Bloomberg, add to Cohen's mounting legal troubles. The FBI reportedly raided Cohen's office and hotel room last week to seize records related to several matters, including his taxi business and his $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, the porn actress who purportedly had an affair with Trump.

Tax warrants against the Cohens' cab firms date back to November 2014. One of the firms hit with new warrants is co-owned by Michael Cohen and a woman named Sandra Cohen. His wife, Laura Cohen, is listed as an owner of the other five.

The taxis are reportedly run by Evgeny Freidman, the so-called "Taxi King" who's been charged by state authorities with stealing $5 million in surcharges meant for to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Cohen disputed the amount of the warrants and said they're "the obligations of the operator, not the passive investor" — meaning Freidman, who is reportedly fighting the criminal charges against him.

There are about 13,600 medallion taxis in the city, according to the Taxi and Limousine Commission. The typical price of a medallion reportedly peaked at more than $1 million in 2014, but had dropped to around $200,000 earlier this year, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Cohen and his family's medallions were last refinanced in 2014 when the prices were at their peak, Bloomberg reported.

Additional reporting by Colin Miner/Patch

(Lead image: Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's longtime personal attorney, leaves federal court after a hearing in Manhattan on Monday, April 16. Photo by Yana Paskova/Getty Images)