US: Ex-president Donald Trump posts $175mn bond in NY civil fraud case
Former US President Donald Trump has posted a Us$175mn bond as he appeals the judgement against him in the New York civil fraud case brought by state Attorney General Letitia James, CNN reported on Tuesday.
With the submission of bonds, it will pause any action that Attorney General James could take against Donald Trump’s properties in response to the judgement until at least September, when the state appeals court also set a schedule to hear his appeal of the Us$464mn verdicts against him.
The bond has been underwritten by Knight Specialty Insurance, a California-based insurance company, but the court document does not list the collateral that Trump used to secure the bond.
Last month, Trump said at a news conference he would use cash to cover the bond, but claimed that he also wanted to use cash to fund his re-election
campaign.
Yet asked if he planned to start personal funds into his presidential campaign, Trump said: “First of all, it’s none of your business,” before adding: “I might do that. I have the option.”
The bond amount was lowered by several hundred million dollars by a state appeals court last month after Trump’s attorneys argued that covering the full bond on the Us$464mn verdict against him was not feasible. (Trump himself was ordered to pay Us$454mn; the Us$464mn includes the disgorgement for his adult sons Don Jr and Eric)
In January, Judge Arthur Engoron fined Trump and his codefendants, including his adult sons and his company, Us$464mn, finding they fraudulently inflated the value of the former president’s assets to obtain better loan rates.
Trump had been given 30 days to post the bond for the full amount of the judgement while he appealed, as is required by state law, but his attorneys said he could not find an insurance company to underwrite that large of a bond. That prompted James to take steps to prepare to seize Trump’s assets in the event Trump failed to post bond.
When the 30-day deadline hit, however, the New York appeals court stepped in and lowered the bond to Us$175mn, giving Trump an additional 10 days.
“As promised, Trump has posted bond,” Trump attorney Alina Habba said in a statement. “He looks forward to vindicating his rights on appeal and overturning this unjust verdict.”