Judge orders Trump and his companies to pay $355 million in New York civil fraud case
A New York judge ordered Donald Trump and his companies on Friday to pay $355 million in penalties, finding they engaged in a yearslong scheme to dupe banks and others with financial statements that inflated his wealth.
Trump won바카라 게임 웹사이트t have to pay out the money immediately as an appeals process plays out, but the verdict still is a stunning setback for the former president.
If he바카라 게임 웹사이트s ultimately forced to pay, the magnitude of the penalty, on top of earlier judgments, could dramatically diminish his financial resources. And it undermines the image of a successful businessman that he바카라 게임 웹사이트s carefully tailored to power his unlikely rise from a reality television star to a onetime 바카라 게임 웹사이트 and perhaps future 바카라 게임 웹사이트 president.
Judge Arthur Engoron concluded that Trump and his company were 바카라 게임 웹사이트likely to continue their fraudulent ways바카라 게임 웹사이트 without the financial penalties and other controls he imposed. Engoron concluded that Trump and his co-defendants 바카라 게임 웹사이트failed to accept responsibility바카라 게임 웹사이트 and that experts who testified on his behalf 바카라 게임 웹사이트simply denied reality.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트This is a venial sin, not a mortal sin,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Engoron, a Democrat, wrote in a searing 92-page opinion. 바카라 게임 웹사이트They did not rob a bank at gunpoint. Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff. Yet, defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways."
He said their 바카라 게임 웹사이트complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological바카라 게임 웹사이트 and 바카라 게임 웹사이트the frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience."
Trump, who built his reputation as a real estate titan, also was barred from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation for three years or from getting a loan from banks registered in his native state.
His eldest sons, Trump Organization Executive Vice Presidents Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, each were ordered to pay $4 million and barred from being officers of New York companies for two years. Former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg was ordered to pay $1 million.
Trump called the verdict a 바카라 게임 웹사이트Complete and Total sham." He wrote on his Truth Social platform that New York Attorney General Letitia James 바카라 게임 웹사이트has been obsessed with 바카라 게임 웹사이트Getting Trump' for years바카라 게임 웹사이트 and that Engoron바카라 게임 웹사이트s decision was 바카라 게임 웹사이트an illegal, unAmerican judgment against me, my family, and my tremendous business.바카라 게임 웹사이트
The total $364 million verdict 바카라 게임 웹사이트 which James' office said grows to $450 million, adding interest 바카라 게임 웹사이트 keeps the Trump Organization in business. The judge backed away from an earlier ruling that would have dissolved the former president바카라 게임 웹사이트s companies. But if upheld, the verdict will force a shakeup at the top of the company.
In a statement, James said 바카라 게임 웹사이트justice has been served바카라 게임 웹사이트 and called the ruling 바카라 게임 웹사이트a tremendous victory for this state, this nation, and for everyone who believes that we all must play by the same rules 바카라 게임 웹사이트 even former presidents.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트Now, Donald Trump is finally facing accountability for his lying, cheating, and staggering fraud. Because no matter how big, rich, or powerful you think you are, no one is above the law,바카라 게임 웹사이트 James said.
Trump's lawyers vowed to appeal. Attorney Alina Habba called the verdict 바카라 게임 웹사이트manifest injustice" and 바카라 게임 웹사이트the culmination of a multi-year, politically fueled witch hunt." Trump lawyer Christopher Kise called the outcome 바카라 게임 웹사이트a draconian and unconstitutional fine and a corporate 바카라 게임 웹사이트death penalty바카라 게임 웹사이트바카라 게임 웹사이트 for Trump, his family and his business.
Engoron issued his decision after that saw the Republican presidential front-runner bristling under oath that he was the victim of a rigged legal system.
The stiff penalty was a victory for James, a Democrat, who sued Trump over what she said was not just harmless bragging but years of deceptive practices as he built the multinational collection of skyscrapers, golf courses and other properties that catapulted him to wealth, fame and the White House.
James sued Trump in 2022 under a state law that authorizes her to investigate persistent fraud in business dealings.
Video below: Trump remarks before closing arguments at his civil fraud trial
The suit accused Trump and his co-defendants of routinely puffing up his financial statements to create an illusion his properties were more valuable than they really were. State lawyers said Trump exaggerated his wealth by as much as $3.6 billion one year.
By making himself seem richer, Trump qualified for better loan terms, saved on interest and was able to complete projects he might otherwise not have finished, state lawyers said.
Even before the trial began, Engoron ruled that James had proven Trump바카라 게임 웹사이트s financial statements were fraudulent. The judge ordered some of Trump바카라 게임 웹사이트s companies removed from his control and dissolved. An appeals court put that decision on hold.
In that earlier ruling, the judge found that, among other tricks, Trump바카라 게임 웹사이트s financial statements had wrongly claimed his Trump Tower penthouse was nearly three times its actual size and overvalued his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, based on the idea that the property could be developed for residential use, even though he had surrendered rights to develop it for any uses but a club.
Trump, one of 40 witnesses to testify at the trial, said his financial statements actually understated his net worth and that banks did their own research and were happy with his business.
바카라 게임 웹사이트There was no victim. There was no anything,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Trump testified in November.
During the trial, Trump called the judge 바카라 게임 웹사이트extremely hostile바카라 게임 웹사이트 and the attorney general 바카라 게임 웹사이트a political hack.바카라 게임 웹사이트 In during closing arguments in January, Trump proclaimed 바카라 게임 웹사이트I am an innocent man바카라 게임 웹사이트 and called the case a 바카라 게임 웹사이트fraud on me.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Trump and his lawyers have said the outside accountants that helped prepare the statements should바카라 게임 웹사이트ve flagged any discrepancies and that the documents came with disclaimers that shielded him from liability. They also argued that some of the allegations were barred by the statute of limitations.
The suit is one of many legal headaches for Trump as he campaigns for a return to the White House. He has been indicted four times in the last year 바카라 게임 웹사이트 accused in Georgia and Washington, D.C., of plotting to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, in Florida of hoarding classified documents, and in Manhattan of falsifying business records related to hush money paid to porn actor Stormy Daniels on his behalf.
On Thursday, a judge confirmed Trump바카라 게임 웹사이트s hush-money trial will start on March 25 and a judge in Atlanta heard arguments on whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from his Georgia election interference case because she had a personal relationship with a special prosecutor she hired.
Those criminal accusations haven바카라 게임 웹사이트t appeared to undermine his march toward the Republican presidential nomination, but civil litigation has threatened him financially.
On Jan. 26, a jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million to writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her after she accused him in 2019 of sexually assaulting her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s. That바카라 게임 웹사이트s on top of the $5 million a jury awarded Carroll in a related trial last year.
In 2022, the Trump Organization was convicted of tax fraud and in an unrelated criminal case for helping executives dodge taxes on extravagant perks such as Manhattan apartments and luxury cars.
James had asked the judge to impose a penalty of at least $370 million.
Engoron decided the case because neither side sought a jury and state law doesn바카라 게임 웹사이트t allow for juries for this type of lawsuit.
Because it was civil, not criminal, the case did not carry the potential of prison time.
James, who campaigned for office as a Trump critic and watchdog, started scrutinizing his business practices in March 2019 after his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen that Trump exaggerated his wealth on financial statements provided to Deutsche Bank while trying to obtain financing to buy the NFL바카라 게임 웹사이트s Buffalo Bills.
James바카라 게임 웹사이트 office previously sued Trump for misusing his own charitable foundation to further his political and business interests. Trump was ordered to pay $2 million to an array of charities as a fine and the charity, the Trump Foundation, was shut down.
Trump incorporated the Trump Organization in New York in 1981. He still owns it, but he put his assets into a revocable trust and gave up his positions as the company바카라 게임 웹사이트s director, president and chairman when he became president, leaving management of the company to Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.
Trump did not return to a stated leadership position upon leaving the White House in 2021, but his sons testified he바카라 게임 웹사이트s been involved in some decision-making.
Engoron had already appointed a monitor, retired federal judge Barbara Jones, to keep an eye on the company.