This was published 6 months ago
Donald Trump ordered to pay $535 million in NY fraud trial
Washington: Former US president Donald Trump has been ordered to pay more than $US350 million ($535 million) and will be barred from running a business in New York for three years, after a judge confirmed he had committed fraud while building the real estate empire that helped catapult him into the White House.
After a damning civil fraud trial, a New York judge imposed the sanction on Friday (Saturday morning AEDT) finding Trump liable for grossly inflating the value of his assets for financial gain.
Donald Trump, with lawyers Christopher Kise and Alina Habba, attends the closing arguments in the Trump Organisation civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court.Credit: AP
The payment is consistent with the $US370 million New York Attorney General Letitia James wanted in financial penalties, and has enraged the former president because it goes to the heart of the reputation he has spent years crafting, personally and politically, as a successful businessman.
In addition to the monetary sanctions, Judge Arthur Engoron also imposed a three-year ban preventing Trump from serving “as an officer or director of any New York corporation or other legal entity in New York”, while his sons Eric and Donald Jnr were barred for two years.
In his decision, Engoron noted that this was not the Trump Organisation’s “first rodeo” when it comes to corporate malfeasance, and lashed out at Trump and his co-defendants for “their complete lack of contrition and remorse”, which he said “borders on pathological”.
“They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money. The documents prove this over and over again. This is a venial sin, not a mortal sin. The defendants did not commit murder or arson,” he said.
The Seven Springs, a property owned by Donald Trump in Mount Kisco, New York. Credit: AP
“They did not rob a bank at gunpoint. Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff. Yet, defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways. Instead, they adopt a ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ posture that the evidence belies.”
Speaking after the verdict, Trump said he would appeal against the decision, branded the case a political witch-hunt, and accused James and Engoron of being corrupt.
He insisted that he never committed fraud and that there was no crime because the banks made money on his investments.
But according to the judgment, Trump and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.
“In considering the need for ongoing injunctive relief, this Court is mindful that this action is not the first time the Trump Organisation or its related entities has been found to have engaged in corporate malfeasance,” Engoron said in his judgment.
”Of course, the more evidence there is of defendants’ ongoing propensity to engage in fraud, the more need there is for the Court to impose stricter injunctive relief. This is not [the] defendants’ first rodeo.”
Overall, Trump was fined about $US355 million, while his sons Eric and Donald were fined $US4 million each and former Trump organisation chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg was fined $US1 million.
The amount will put a severe dent on Trump’s bank balance, but is not expected to ruin him financially. The New York Attorney General’s office has estimated that his annual net worth was $US2 billion in 2021, while Forbes magazine put his total net worth at $US2.6 billion, much of which is tied to his real estate ventures.
An independent monitor will also be appointed to oversee the company’s activities after the judge ruled that “the Trump Organisation does not have the ability to operate with a functional financial reporting structure that would protect against fraud in the future”.
“The scale and the scope of Donald Trump’s fraud is staggering, and so too his ego and his belief that the rules do not apply to him,” James said after the verdict.
“Today, we are holding Donald Trump accountable. We are holding him accountable for lying, cheating, and a lack of contrition and for flouting the rules that all of us must play by.”
Engoron’s ruling comes after months of testimony from 40 witnesses, including Trump and sons Eric and Donald Jnr and daughter Ivanka.
Donald Trump speaks at a caucus night party in Des Moines, Iowa, flanked by sons Eric (left) and Don Jr.Credit: AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
The judge had already found in an earlier hearing that financial statements used to value Trump properties, such as Mar-a-Lago and Trump Tower in Manhattan, were fraudulent. Therefore, the latest trial essentially centred on how much Trump should pay.
Trump’s main argument was that the disclaimer on the financial statements absolved him of any wrongdoing. During his testimony, he then admitted he had some involvement with his financial statements, but added that he relied heavily on his accountant.
The verdict is the latest that Trump has faced as he edges closer to winning the Republican nomination to run as a candidate in this year’s election - and the latest to hit his bank balance.
Last month in New York he was ordered to pay $US83 million to writer E. Jean Carroll after a jury found him liable for sexually assaulting her in the 1990s and then defaming her when she spoke out about the incident.
He also faces 91 criminal charges across four trials: one in Washington, DC, for attempting to overthrow the 2020 election results, one in Florida for mishandling classified documents, one in Georgia for interfering in the election in that state, and one in New York for hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
The former president appeared in a Manhattan court on Thursday, hoping to dismiss the hush money trial, but was dealt a blow when the judge overseeing it, scheduled it for March 25.
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.