N.Y. judge orders Trump and executives to pay over $364 million in fraud case : NPR

A New York judge ordered former President Donald Trump and Trump Organization executives to pay more than $364 million in a civil fraud case, handing a victory to New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued Trump and his associates after a three-year investigation. .

He Friday’s decision by Judge Arthur Engoron It orders Trump and his flagship organization to pay most of that amount: nearly $355 million. Trump’s two sons and co-defendants, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., are responsible for paying $4 million each. Allen Weisselberg, a former Trump Organization executive, is responsible for paying $1 million. The total is even higher with interest: more than $450 million in total, according to the attorney general’s office.

“Their complete lack of repentance and remorse borders on the pathological. They are only accused of inflating the value of assets to make more money. The documents prove it time and time again. This is a venial sin, not a mortal sin,” Engoron wrote in the newspaper. judicial presentation. “However, the defendants are unable to admit their mistake.”

Trump himself called the decision a “complete and total travesty” in an emailed statement and reiterated his accusation that the justice system as a whole is politically biased against him.

James, however, declared that “justice has been done.”

“This is a tremendous victory for this state, this nation, and for everyone who believes we should all play by the same rules, even former presidents,” the state attorney general said in a statement.

Additional consequences

The judge also decided to limit Trump and his co-defendants’ ability to do business in the Empire State. Trump and his companies are prohibited from serving as an officer or director of any New York company or applying for loans for three years. His children are limited to similar leadership roles for two years.

Jeffrey McConney, former Trump Organization controller and also a defendant, was not ordered to pay any amounts, but he and Weisselberg are permanently prohibited from exercising the financial control function of any New York corporation or similar business entity registered or licensed in the State of NY.

“This Court is not constituted to judge morality; it is constituted to find facts and apply the law. In this particular case, by applying the law to the facts, the Court intends to protect the integrity of the financial market and therefore therefore, the public as a whole,” Engoron wrote.

The ruling comes at a crucial time for Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. Engoron’s decision comes a day after another judge set a date for what could be Trump’s first criminal trial, related to Hush payments issued during the 2016 election..

He faces a combined 91 state and federal charges, including several related to his role in remaining in office after losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden. But the charges have done little to dent Trump’s popularity among his base. Instead, the charges appear to have bolstered his credentials, potentially setting up a rematch with Biden.

The facts of the case

Trump and his two oldest children are accused of knowingly committing fraud by submitting financial statements that inflated the value of their properties and other assets. The lawsuit alleges that from 2011 to 2021, Donald Trump and his organization created more than 200 false valuations to inflate his net worth by billions of dollars in order to secure better business, insurance and banking deals.

Engoron had already determined that there was fraud and that the former president, his children and other directors were responsible.

Throughout the trial, legal teams argued over whether the value of notable Trump properties, such as Manhattan’s Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street, were deliberately inflated.

Documents shown during the trial ranged from spreadsheets to signed financial statements. In one example, the attorney general’s legal team showed that Trump’s triplex in his eponymous Manhattan building was nearly 11,000 square feet in 1994 and later 30,000 square feet. TO Forbes A 2017 magazine article originally shed light on the discrepancy.

The former president and three of his children, Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka, who is not charged, took the stand to testify about the assessment process and their involvement in the Trump Organization. Testifying in November, Trump argued that the estimated property values ​​were actually conservative and said he relied on others to compile the returns. His children too They testified that they depended on othersincluding his accounting firm, to get the numbers, even though emails and documents showed the Trumps ultimately approved them.

In final briefs, Trump’s team reinforced the argument that the three Trump family members had no knowledge or involvement in the creation, preparation or use of the fraudulent financial statements.

Who else testified?

Among the witnesses were former Trump allies such as Michael Cohen and Weisselbergwho was also accused.

Cohen testified that it was his responsibility, along with that of Weisselberg“reverse engineer the very different asset classes, grow those assets to achieve the numbers” Trump had asked for.

Weisselberg, however, testified that he did not remember whether he discussed the financial statements with Trump when they were finalized.

Friday’s decision comes as Trump continues his campaign for the presidency. He will likely appeal this ruling, as he has done in the other cases in which he has suffered legal setbacks. It could be years before he parts with the money from the case.