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Donald Trump (2018 in the White House)
Photo: Evan Vucci/ AP
In a tough legal battle in New York, former US President Donald Trump has been fined for refusing to provide information.
A judge found Trump guilty of contempt of court and ordered the Republican to pay $10,000 for each day he failed to produce requested documents.
New York Attorney General Letitia James had asked Trump for tax and accounting documents.
The background is civil investigations by the Democratic Attorney General against Trump's corporate empire for possibly fraudulent business practices.
James called the decision a "great victory" for justice and a sign that no one is above the law.
"For years, Donald Trump has attempted to evade the law and prevent our lawful investigations into him and his company's financial dealings," James said.
The New York Times reports that a lawyer for Trump wants to appeal.
According to James, Trump and the Trump Organization used fraudulent and misleading financial reporting to gain economic advantage.
Accordingly, the family holding artificially inflated the value of real estate when they wanted to get loans from banks.
In other cases, the Trump Organization is said to have reduced the value in order to have to pay less taxes or insurance premiums.
Trump's company denies the allegations.
Also criminal investigations against Trump
Donald Trump is the founder of the Trump Organization, his two sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are the vice presidents of the company conglomerate, which is primarily active in the real estate sector.
At the same time, criminal investigations against Trump and his empire are also underway in New York.
A judge in New York decided in mid-February in the civil proceedings that the 75-year-old and his two children had to face an interrogation within 21 days.
Trump is taking legal action against this decision.
The court also ruled that Trump had until March 3 to submit a set of documents to the attorney general's office.
The deadline was later extended to the end of March.
James accuses Trump of violating the court order to delay the investigation.
atb/dpa/AFP
