Donald Trump Faces $454 Million Civil Fraud Penalty but Can Still Apply for Loans
Donald Trump, the former president of the United States got a blow from a court of law for his involvement in a civil fraud case in New York. A New York appellate judge on Wednesday rejected the appeal raised by him to put a halt on the jurisdiction that had instructed him to pay off the $454 for the fraud case. The original New York-based ruling had caused certain displeasure among the Trump family and they decided to challenge the decision in an appeal court, but to their surprise, the verdict stayed the same.
On February 16, a New York-based court ruling led by Judge Arthur Engoron held Trump's family and associates responsible for civil fraud. The ruling had put huge fines on all involved in the case. Donald Trump was fined $354 million and an additional $100 million as interest. The interest is being accrued for every day Trump fails to settle the fine, thus increasing the total fine daily. In addition, the court had put a complete ban on Trump from doing any business in New York territory. Both Donald Trump Jr. and Erica Trump have been fined $4 million each and have been barred from operating business in New York for the next two years. Even Trump organization’s former CFO and Controller were also convicted. Both of them have been prohibited from running any business in New York for the next three years. Also, none of them can take up a financial management role in any New York-based company for the rest of their life.
Trump had rejected all the charges and had decided to appeal against them in Manhattan Supreme Court. Trump’s advocates proposed to offer $100 million in bonds to put a pause on the enforcement passed by the New York court. The argument by Trump’s lawyer was that to raise the entire amount they would need to sell all of Trump’s properties and it was impossible.
The ruling led by Judge Anil Singh rejected Trump’s plea and ordered him to enforce the original judgment. The judge did allow the Trump family to stay in charge of the companies so that they could secure the funds to pay for the heavy fines that have been levied on them. To provide some sort of relief to Trump, the court has allowed them to apply for loans from financial institutions in New York. Post the hearing, Trump’s attorneys issued an official statement that read, “The exorbitant and punitive amount of the Judgment coupled with an unlawful and unconstitutional blanket prohibition on lending transactions would make it impossible to secure and post a complete bond”.
The New York Attorney General however feels that Trump has enough properties to take care of the penalty amount easily. The real estate held by the Trump family in New York alone is sufficient to pay off a total of $454 million. And the $100 million bond can act as security from Trump’s side. The Attorney General in an official statement mentioned “Defendants have never demonstrated that Mr. Trump’s liquid assets could satisfy the full amount of the judgment,” She further stated, “There is a substantial risk that defendants will attempt to evade enforcement of the judgment (or make enforcement more difficult) following appeal.”