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Trump ordered to pay nearly $355M for fraudulent business practices in New York

Old_JoeOld_Joe
in Off-Topic
Following are edited excerpts from a current NPR report:

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

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

"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. This is a venial sin, not a mortal sin," Engoron wrote in the court filing. "Yet, defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways."

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 business or applying for loans for three years. His sons are limited from similar leadership roles for two years.

Trump and his two older sons 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 with the goal of getting better business, insurance and banking deals.

Engoron had already determined that there was fraud and that the former president, his sons and other executives were liable.

Witnesses included former Trump allies such as Michael Cohen and Weisselberg, who was also a defendant.

Cohen testified that it was his responsibility, along with that of Weisselberg, "to reverse-engineer the very different asset classes, increase those assets in order to achieve the numbers" Trump had asked for.

Weisselberg, however, testified that he couldn't remember whether he discussed the financial statements with Trump as they were finalized.

The decision on Friday comes as Trump continues to campaign for the presidency. He will likely appeal this ruling, as he has in the other cases where he has suffered legal setbacks. It may take years before he parts with any money in the case.

Comments

  • MarkMark
    Can he avoid the fines by claiming bankruptcy? Again.
  • Sven
    edited February 17
    That is for sure in order to avoid a serious financial setback.

    Unless the case prevails in appellate court, he has to pay the judgment. Since this is a civil fraud case and not relate to campaign activities, he cannot use PAC or RNC fund to cover that. Otherwise, paying Trump’s judgments could jeopardize RNC’s nonprofit status.

    Additionally, these funds are being used to pay lawyers in civil and criminal cases. Can he get rich donors to fork over $400 millions to his organization?
  • hank
    edited February 17
    Needs to rent out some rooms at disneyland Maralago. Main attraction - classified government documents to read while sitting in the ”John”.
  • Old_JoeOld_Joe
    As long as you don't need to take a shower- it was pretty full of the classified stuff. That whole thing seems like a Loonie Tunes cartoon. That man is something else.

    Hey, why don't we make him our president ??? What a cool idea !!!
  • hank
    edited February 17
    Watching some interesting CNN analysis. Several knowledgeable guests. Says one: The family is now officially a “crime family” as the two sons have been fined as well. Also “money begets money”. The more you have (or pretend to have) the more you make. I’d liken it to defrauding other fund investors or a fund company by fraudulently “investing” money you don’t really have and reaping undeserved gains.

  • Old_JoeOld_Joe
    Yep.
  • hank
    edited February 17

    image
  • MarkMark
    yup
  • Observant1
    edited February 18
    The fraudster just launched a new sneaker line.
    He hopes sales will be golden to defray recent judgements.
    The Never Surrender High-Tops sell for a whopping $399 and are rather ostentatious.
    They're too expensive, not my style, and regardless, I wouldn't want to support a career criminal!

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/18/trump-launches-gold-high-top-sneaker-line-a-day-after-350m-court-ruling
  • hank
    edited February 19
    From today’s WSJ - “The ban on borrowing could have the greatest impact, lawyers said, because most large U.S. banks are registered or have charters with New York.”
  • Old_JoeOld_Joe
    edited February 19
    Let us hope. Just seeing a picture of that bastard make my skin crawl.
  • CrashCrash
    Same here, OJ. Even several years ago, one of the sons volunteered to tell an interviewer: "we get a great deal of money from Russia." I suppose that's been stopped, with all the sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine. They're not picky. They'll do anything or go anywhere for money. Crime family, indeed.
  • Sven
    They resemble like the mafia family.
  • CrashCrash
    +1.
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