Trump accepts new restrictions on bond

NEW YORK — Donald Trump agreed on Monday to additional restrictions on the Us$175-million bond in the former U.S. president’s New York civil fraud case, resolving concerns by the state attorney general that the funds were not secure.

The bond issued by Knight Specialty Insurance is meant to secure Trump’s compliance with a $454.2-million judgment won by state Attorney General Letitia James if he does not succeed in an appeal.

Justice Arthur Engoron imposed the penalty after finding that Trump, the Republican presidential candidate to face President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election, fraudulently inflated his net worth and real estate assets to deceive banks and insurers into providing better terms.

James, a Democrat, had challenged the bond this month, saying Trump still had access to the Charles Schwab account pledged to the insurer as collateral.

But at a hearing on Monday, down the block from where jurors heard opening arguments in Trump’s criminal hush money trial, lawyers for Trump and Knight agreed that the funds would remain as cash and not be traded for securities.

They also agreed that Knight would have exclusive control of the account and not withdraw funds, and to provide James with monthly statements to assure that the cash isn’t going anywhere.

The agreement was reached after Engoron questioned the security of the collateral.

“You keep using the word agreement, what if they break the agreement?” he asked Trump’s lawyer Christopher Kise. “It all seems like a house of cards.”

Knight is owned by billionaire Trump supporter Don Hankey.