Donald Trump does not have the capacity to pay the entire $454.2 million fine, to which he was sentenced in mid-February, by the Supreme Court of the State of New York, for financial fraud, his lawyers announced this Wednesday, February 28, according to the Reuters news agency and
The Guardian
.
The former President of the United States, candidate for a new term, actually asked to pay only $100 million in bail, while he appealed the legal decision.
In a 92-page court document published on February 16, Judge Arthur Engoron of the Supreme Court of the State of New York deprived him of the management of
“any business or legal entity in New York for a period of three years”
and ordered him to pay $355 million in fines.
To which is added daily interest which began to accrue in 2019. Donald Trump is also prohibited from taking out loans from banks in the State of New York for three years.
The attorney general of this state, Letitia James, filed a complaint against Donald Trump in October 2022 and forced him, with his two adult sons Donald Jr and Eric and their family group, the Trump Organization, to a civil trial for fraud.
“Totally bogus”
Trump father and son appeared several times during this lengthy civil trial, in a tense political climate.
They were accused of having colossally inflated during the 2010s the value of the assets of the Trump Organization, their skyscrapers, luxury hotels or golf courses around the world, to obtain more favorable loans from banks and better insurance conditions.
The former tenant of the White House (2017-2021) criticized the
“totally bogus” judgment after the announcement.
Donald Trump's lawyers have in fact called for a temporary suspension of the judgment, pending the case being appealed, saying that he would suffer
"irreparable harm"
by paying the entire fine.
They also claimed that the
“exorbitant and punitive amount of the judgment, coupled with an illegal and unconstitutional ban on loan transactions, would make (payment of) a full fine impossible.”
They assured that a $100 million bond, coupled with Trump's
"vast"
real estate holdings, would be more than enough to secure the remainder of the payment.
Prosecutor Letitia James, for her part, opposed a stay of the judgment, calling it
“particularly inappropriate”
given that the defendants
“almost admit”
that Trump does not have sufficient liquid assets to pay the fine.
James also said there was a
“substantial risk”
that Trump would not pay, or move his money out of the United States, if he lost his appeal.
Trump estimates his net worth in billions of dollars, but much of that is in real estate, not cold hard cash.
During the trial, in the courtroom, in the corridors of the Manhattan courthouse and on the platforms of campaign meetings, Donald Trump continued to rail against justice in the hands, according to him, of President Biden's Democrats, denouncing "
a trial worthy of a banana republic
.
Unlike his criminal trials planned this year - such as the one set for Thursday March 25 for payments aimed at silencing a pornographic film star - Donald Trump and his sons did not risk prison in this civil case.