File picture of Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump
| Photo Credit: Marco Bello

Donald Trump posted a $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case on Monday, averting asset seizures by state authorities that could have hobbled the former U.S. president’s business empire.

The Republican Trump, set to face Democratic President Joe Biden in the November U.S. election, was found liable on February 16 for fraudulently inflating his net worth by billions of dollars to secure better loan and insurance terms.

Mr. Trump originally needed to post a bond for $454 million, but an appeals court on March 25 stayed enforcement of Justice Arthur Engoron’s judgment on condition that Mr. Trump pay the smaller sum within 10 days.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court will hear Mr. Trump’s appeal on the merits. The appeals court ruling reducing the bond is no indication of how the panel will ultimately rule.

The bond prevents New York Attorney General Letitia James from going after Mr. Trump’s properties, including Trump Tower, his 370-acre resort and golf course in Westchester and his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Mr. Trump has denied wrongdoing and said the case is a political witch hunt by James, a Democrat who sued him in 2022.

In a 92-page order, Justice Engoron described how Mr. Trump directed deputies to change the values of his properties to arrive at his desired net worth for a decade before his entry into politics.

The case is part of a maelstrom of legal troubles Mr. Trump faces, including a criminal trial in New York set to begin on April 15. Mr. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, is accused in that case of illegally covering up hush money payments to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.

He has also been charged in two cases with trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Mr. Biden and in another over his handling of classified documents upon leaving office.

Those have been mired in delays and may not go to trial before the November election.

Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty in all of them.

Washington:

Donald Trump is up against a fast-approaching deadline to secure a half-billion dollar bond as he appeals his financial fraud case, facing possible bankruptcy or the seizure of his assets if he fails.

The former president, who has clinched the Republican nomination for this year’s presidential election, is appealing his $355 million penalty, plus interest, after a New York court ruled that he, his sons and his Trump Organization company lied for years about the value of his assets, deceiving banks and insurers.

But he must put up a guarantee he’ll pay the fine if his legal fight fails.

Trump built a public profile as a property developer and businessman in New York before entering politics. But despite the real-estate mogul’s $2.6 billion estimated net worth, his lawyers say that it’s been impossible so far to come up with the $454 million bond, due Monday.

Typically, such bonds would be underwritten by an insurer or specialized bond company.

But Trump’s lawyers say that after approaching 30 such companies, none will take the ex-president’s real-estate holdings as collateral, creating a “practical impossibility” to get a bond, they wrote in court filings.

Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann told AFP that “it seems pretty clear to me, based on the filings, that the problem he is having is that whatever assets he has are already leveraged” against other loans.

If Trump cannot pay, added Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, “he confronts the prospect of humiliation and serious financial harm.”  

Multiple appeals are ongoing by the ex-president — who has denounced the judge who issued the ruling as “crooked” and a “Trump Hater” — including one at the New York Supreme Court.

But the 30-day grace period to put up the money expires Monday, raising the prospect that unless courts intervene or the New York attorney general gives him more time, Trump might need to “sell his properties or related assets, attempt to secure a bank loan, or even declare bankruptcy,” Tobias said.

Yet even bankruptcy wouldn’t stop authorities from claiming Trump’s money, with the Attorney General Letitia James able to freeze his accounts or even seize certain properties related to the case, Tobias told AFP.

“I would be forced to mortgage or sell great assets, perhaps at fire sale prices, and if and when I win the appeal, they would be gone,” Trump said in a post on social media.

“Election interference!” he charged in another post, while also calling James, who is a Democrat, “corrupt and racist.”

Last month Trump offered a $100 million bond to partially cover him as he appealed — a move rejected by a New York Supreme Court Appellate Division judge.

As part of the fraud ruling, Trump was also banned from running businesses in New York state for three years.

He was also barred from seeking loans from institutions based in New York, though a judge has lifted that part of the ruling as Trump seeks to secure his bond.

Trump, facing 91 criminal counts in other cases, has seized on his legal woes to fire up supporters and denounce his likely opponent President Joe Biden, claiming that court cases are “just a way of hurting me in the election.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Donald Trump faced having assets seized in a humiliating blow to his carefully cultivated image as a self-made tycoon as his lawyers acknowledged Monday he doesn’t have the cash to appeal a $464 million fine for fraudulently inflating his wealth.

Trump — the Republican candidate for November’s US presidential election — intends to challenge the judgment imposed by a New York civil court in February, which would force an automatic stay of enforcement.

But first he must put the money into an account managed by the appeals court or post a bond in the full amount, and 30 insurance underwriters have rejected his pleas for assistance, his lawyers said in a new filing.

His cash crunch raises the possibility that the state of New York could begin seizing the former president’s property as soon as next Monday unless the court — known as the First Department of the Appellate Division — agrees to a delay.

“Defendants have faced what have proven to be insurmountable difficulties in obtaining an appeal bond for the full $464 million,” Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten said in a filing to the court.

Judge Arthur Engoron ruled last month that Trump and his company had unlawfully inflated his wealth and manipulated the value of properties to obtain favorable bank loans or insurance terms.

The judge ordered Trump to pay $355 million plus interest while his sons Eric and Don Jr. were told to hand over more than $4 million each.

Trump managed to put together a separate bond earlier this month for $91.6 million as he appeals a sexual assault and defamation judgment in a lawsuit brought by New York writer E. Jean Carroll.

But his lawyers said the leading bond providers all had internal policies preventing them from accepting real estate as collateral in the fraud case, and many would not exceed limits of $100 million.

That leaves Trump with the only option of posting 120 percent of the bond in cash and cash equivalents totaling $557.5 million, including fees and interest.

Trump testified in an April 2023 deposition in the same case that he had “substantially in excess of 400 million in cash” — but he had already developed a reputation by then for exaggerating his wealth.

He has asked the appeals court to delay the deadline for posting the bond until his appeal has been heard, arguing that his property empire is worth far more than the amount he owes.

He also asked to be allowed to secure a bond in a lesser amount but New York Attorney General Letitia James has objected, arguing that he would “attempt to evade enforcement of the judgment or to make enforcement more difficult.”

Even with a bond, Trump would continue to incur massive interest payments during what could be a years-long appeal, unless he deposits the full fine into a court-managed account.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New York:

Former president Donald Trump returned to his New York civil fraud trial on Tuesday and complained about a partial gag order imposed on him by a judge in a separate case.

Trump’s former personal lawyer-turned-foe Michael Cohen had been scheduled to testify at the trial on Tuesday but delayed his appearance to attend to what he said was a medical issue.

The 77-year-old Trump spoke to reporters as he arrived at the Manhattan courtroom, attacking New York attorney general Letitia James, who brought the civil fraud case against him, the judge presiding over the trial, and President Joe Biden.

“This is a witch hunt by a radical, lunatic attorney general,” Trump said.

“This is a rigged trial,” he added, with a “Democrat judge” who is “very liberal.”

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, also claimed, falsely, that the federal judge who will preside over his trial in Washington for conspiring to overturn the 2020 US election had taken away his “right to speak.”

“My speech has been taken away from me,” he said. “I’m a candidate that’s running for office and I’m not allowed to speak.

“This is a railroading that’s all coming out of the Department of Justice,” the former president said. “It’s all set up by Biden and his thugs that he’s surrounded with to try and sneak out an election victory that he’s not entitled to win.”

US District Judge Tanya Chutkan did not take away Trump’s right to speak. Rather, she ordered him not to make public statements targeting prosecutors, court staff or potential witnesses ahead of the trial scheduled to begin in Washington in March 2024.

Chutkan’s ruling came after special counsel Jack Smith, a frequent target of Trump’s vitriol, filed a motion claiming that the real estate tycoon’s inflammatory rhetoric threatened to undermine his trial for election subversion.

In her written order released on Tuesday, Chutkan noted that individuals have been “threatened and harassed” following public statements by the former president.

“(Trump) has made those statements to national audiences using language communicating not merely that he believes the process to be illegitimate, but also that particular individuals involved in it are liars, or ‘thugs,’ or deserve death,” the judge said.

She said the partial gag order applied only to comments about prosecutors, court staff and witnesses and Trump is free to make statements “criticizing the government generally, including the current administration or the Department of Justice.”

He is also free to assert his innocence, claim that his prosecution is politically motivated and criticize his political rivals, Chutkan said.

– $250 million penalty –

Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the New York civil fraud trial, also slapped a limited gag order on the former president this month after he insulted a court clerk in a social media post.

Trump is not required to attend the trial in New York, but he showed up for the first three days of it and has used his appearances to portray himself as the victim of a Democratic plot to interfere in his presidential campaign.

New York’s attorney general has accused Trump, his sons Eric and Don Jr and other executives of the Trump Organization of colossally inflating the value of their real estate assets in order to receive more favorable bank loans and insurance terms.

Trump does not risk going to jail in the fraud trial, but James, a Democrat, is seeking $250 million in penalties and the removal of the former president and his sons from the management of the family empire.

The federal election conspiracy trial is due to open on March 4 in Washington, the day before one of the biggest events in the Republican primary calendar, so-called “Super Tuesday,” when around 15 states hold their nominating votes.

Trump also faces federal charges for alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left the White House and has been charged with racketeering in Georgia for trying to overturn the 2020 election results in the southern state.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New York:

The New York judge overseeing Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial slapped a limited gag order on the former president after he insulted a court clerk in a social media post on Tuesday.

“Personal attacks on members of my court staff are unacceptable,” Judge Arthur Engoron said as Trump sat at the defense table during the second day of his high-profile trial in a Manhattan courtroom.

“Consider this statement a gag order forbidding all parties from posting, emailing or speaking publicly about any of my staff,” Engoron said.

The judge did not refer to Trump by name but he referenced a “disparaging post on social media” made by a defendant in the case, in which Trump and his two eldest sons are accused of inflating the value of the real estate assets of the Trump Organization.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump had posted on his Truth Social platform a picture of one of the judge’s clerks, and referred to her as the “girlfriend” of Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“This case should be dismissed immediately,” Trump said.

The post was later deleted.

The 77-year-old Trump is not required to be in court for the civil fraud trial but he chose to attend for a second day on Tuesday, seizing again on the media exposure to amplify claims he is the victim of a political witch hunt.

He lashed out again at New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the case against him, calling her “very corrupt” and “grossly incompetent.”

Trump has also personally attacked the judge on numerous occasions, calling him a “rogue, out of control, Trump-hating judge,” but Engoron, in his verbal gag order, only ordered a halt to attacks on his court staff.

The former president told reporters while leaving court on Tuesday that he would return again on Wednesday and would testify “at the appropriate time.”

– Multiple legal battles –

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is facing legal battles on multiple fronts. The civil fraud case could result in him being barred from doing business in New York.

The state attorney general has accused Trump, his sons Eric and Don Jr and other executives of colossally inflating the value of their assets in order to receive more favorable bank loans and insurance terms.

Trump does not risk going to jail in the civil trial, but James is seeking $250 million in penalties and the removal of the former president and his sons from the management of the family empire.

Trump has denounced the business fraud charges as a “sham” intended to torpedo his bid to recapture the White House next year.

He has notably mocked the $18 million valuation of his palatial Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, claiming the property is worth $1.5 billion.

The civil trial also involves multiple other Trump Organization properties such as Trump Tower and the 40 Wall Street building in New York, as well as golf courses.

Engoron ruled last week that Trump, his sons and other Trump Organization executives lied to tax collectors, lenders and insurers for years in a scheme that exaggerated the value of their properties by $812 million to $2.2 billion between 2014 and 2021.

As a result, the judge revoked the business licenses that allowed the Trump Organization to operate some of its New York properties and asked the parties to propose receivers to manage the dissolution of the companies in question.

The twice-impeached former president also faces federal charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidental election and for alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left the White House.

Trump has also been charged with racketeering in Georgia for trying to overturn the 2020 election results in the southern state.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)