Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York culminated in a landmark decision against the top brass of the family firm, with the judge ordering the former president to pay $355 million and banning him from business in the Empire State for three years.
Trump’s adult sons, one of whom worked as an executive at the family firm, were ordered to pay $4 million each, the New York Times reported. Donald Jr. and Erik were also banned from doing business for two years after being found liable on multiple counts of fraud in the ruling issued by Justice Arthur Engoron on Friday.
Trump previously vowed to appeal. Rulings by Engoron on other prominent real estate cases have been reversed.
The suit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James sought $370 million in penalties and a ban on the former president doing business in the state. In September, Engoron ruled that Trump repeatedly committed fraud by overvaluing real estate assets to get better deals from lenders and insurers. The trial was a means to determine damages.
Among the properties whose valuations Trump was found to have inflated were his Trump Tower penthouse apartment, apartments at Trump Park Avenue and his Mar-a-Lago base in Florida.
Trump’s legal team argued that there were no victims. Deutsche Bank, the primary lender for many of Trump’s real estate activities, never complained or reported losses as a result of fraud.
Closing arguments were held on Jan. 11.
An independent monitor added new allegations to the case last month with a report detailing how the Trump Organization represents its finances to its lenders. Along with typos, incorrect math and missing disclosures, former federal judge Barbara Jones found a $48 million loan between Trump and one of his companies regarding his Chicago hotel, which Jones said she was told “never existed,” despite appearing on his presidential candidate disclosure forms.
— Holden Walter-Warner
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