Judge fines Trump $355M
The ex-president allegedly inflated his wealth and manipulated the value of his properties to obtain favorable bank loans or insurance terms.
A New York judge has ordered former United States president Donald Trump to pay $355 million over fraud allegations and banned him from running companies in the state for three years.
Trump — almost certain to be the Republican presidential nominee this November — was found liable for unlawfully inflating his wealth and manipulating the value of properties to obtain favorable bank loans or insurance terms.
“We’ll be appealing” the decision handed down by Judge Arthur Engoron, Trump said outside his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. were also found liable in the case and ordered to pay more than $4 million each.
The Trump Organization, an avowedly family business, will also be forced by the ruling to allow in an independent compliance director answerable to the court.
Trump accused President Joe Biden of driving the case, calling it “weaponization against a political opponent who’s up a lot in the polls,” and vowed to appeal.
Judge Arthur Engoron’s financially shattering penalties announced Friday deals a major blow to Trump’s business empire and financial standing.
“They are accused only of inflating asset values to make more money... Donald Trump is not Bernard Madoff. Yet, defendants are incapable of admitting the error of their ways,” he added, referring to the perpetrator of a massive Ponzi scheme.
“This is a tremendous victory for this state, this nation, and for everyone who believes that we all must play by the same rules — even former presidents,” New York state Attorney General Letitia James said.