Donald Trump and his real estate company suffered a major defeat in New York's civil fraud suit over his inflated asset valuations, after a judge barred the former president from running any business in the state for three years and ordered $364 million in penalties plus interest.
The 92-page verdict Friday by Justice Arthur Engoron in Manhattan is a significant victory for New York Attorney General Letitia James, who said in a social media post after the decision that with interest the fine tops $450 million.
Engoron's ruling is a threat to Trump's real estate empire and the latest legal setback as the Republican frontrunner campaigns to return to the White House. His two eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, were also found liable and barred from being officers of a company in New York for two years.
During a three-month trial, James claimed Trump inflated asset values on annual financial documents for more than a decade to dupe Deutsche Bank AG and other lenders into giving him better terms on hundreds of millions of dollars in loans.
$364 Million Fine Breakdown
- Saved interest on four real estate loans, $168 million;
- Profit from sale of Old Post Office in D.C., $127 million;
- Profit from sale of Ferry Point in N.Y., $60 million;
- Eric Trump penalty, $4 million;
- Donald Trump Jr. penalty, $4 million; and
- Allen Weisselberg penalty, $1 million
"Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological. They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money. The documents prove this over and over again," Engoron wrote. "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."
Trump is sure to appeal, potentially dragging out a final resolution of the case well beyond the November election. Even if he appeals, he would be required to put up a large chunk of the damages in the form of an escrow or bond.
The judge also found former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg and former company comptroller Jeffrey McConney liable in the suit.
The fine was close to the $370 million sought by the attorney general, who also requested that interest be repaid on the illegal profit. It also exceeded the $250 million included in the original complaint, which she increased based on additional evidence presented at trial.
The fine was mostly based on the $168 million Trump saved by getting lower interest rates on four loans by lying about his wealth.
It also includes the $127 million profit from the Old Post Office hotel deal in Washington and $60 million from the sale of Ferry Point golf course in New York, which the state says he wouldn't have been able to purchase without inflating the value of his assets. The sum also includes the return of bonuses paid to employees who participated in the fraud.
"This verdict is a manifest injustice – plain and simple," Trump attorney Alina Habba said in a statement. "It is the culmination of a multi-year, politically fueled witch hunt that was designed to 'take down Donald Trump,' before Letitia James ever stepped foot into the Attorney General's office."
A few hours after the verdict, the Trump campaign seized on the opportunity to fundraise, pleading with supporters to donate over "undeniable election interference." The former president has had to drain his war chest for legal fees and is on track to run out of money mid-year.
The $364 million fine comes just weeks after a federal jury in Manhattan ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million in damages to writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her when she went public with claims that he raped her in the 1990s.
The pair of financial hits threaten to consume most — if not all — of the cash Trump has testified to having on hand. In a deposition in the case last year, Trump said he had more than $400 million in cash. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index has Trump's net worth at $3.1 billion, including total liquid assets at about $600 million.
The judge already held the former president liable for fraud ahead of the trial, and ordered the cancellation of his business certificates, putting at risk his future control of the sprawling real estate empire.
