Trump loses bid to pause $454.2 million judgment in NY civil fraud case
NEW YORK, (Reuters) - Donald Trump yesterday lost a bid to pause a $454.2 million civil fraud judgment against him for overstating his net worth and real estate values to dupe lenders, meaning he must soon find the cash or post a bond to prevent New York authorities from seizing his property while he appeals.
The decision by Associate Justice Anil Singh of the New York Appellate Division must be affirmed by a full panel of the mid-level state appeals court. Singh granted Trump’s request for a stay of a portion of Justice Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 16 decision barring the former president from running any New York corporation or seeking loans from the state’s banks for three years.
Trump’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Singh’s decision.
In asking for the stay earlier on Wednesday, Trump’s lawyers said he is unable to post a bond for the full amount of the judgment while he appeals and wants instead to secure a $100 million bond. A bonding company would be on the hook for any payout if Trump loses his appeal and proves unable to pay.
Trump is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 U.S. election.
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump, the Trump Organization and other defendants in 2022 in state court in Manhattan, accusing them of falsifying the values of Trump’s properties to obtain better terms from lenders and insurers. A three-month trial over the claims ended in January.
In their filing with the Appellate Division, Trump’s lawyers said a stay of Engoron’s decision was needed because Trump would suffer “irreparable harm” if James were free to sell his real estate assets to raise capital to pay the judgment.
The lawyers also said the “exorbitant and punitive amount of the judgment coupled with an unlawful and unconstitutional blanket prohibition on lending transactions would make it impossible to secure and post a complete bond.”