$HAVING GRACE FOR DON
Tish toll for fraud cut 60% to $175M
Donald Trump snagged a lastminute legal victory Monday when a state appeals court ruled he could post a drastically reduced bond of $175 million to fight the massive judgment in his civil-fraud case.
The former president had been under pressure to come up with the nearly half-billion-dollar amount due Monday when he was granted the unexpected reprieve from the five-judge panel.
Had Trump failed to fork over the $454 million sum, New York Attorney General Letitia James could have moved to start seizing some of his prized properties.
The appellate court gave him another 10 days to post a bond for the lower figure — a cut of nearly 62% — and Trump said he could and would pay it.
‘It will be my honor . . .’
“It will be my honor to post, and we’ll post whatever is necessary, whether it be cash, security or bond,” Trump, 77, told reporters as he walked out of a Manhattan courtroom after a hearing in his separate “hush money” criminal case.
“I have a lot of cash,” he said later at a press conference from his 40 Wall St. building.
“We’ll put up cash or bond very quickly, securities, cash or bond, whatever it is,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll put it up very quickly, and we’ll win the case.”
Posting the bond would stop state officials from seizing Trump’s assets while he files an appeal of the crushing judgment issued last month by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who found Trump liable for inflating his net worth by billions to dupe banks and insurers.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee will have until September to file the appeal — making it unlikely an ultimate decision would come before the November election.
Once the bond is posted, other parts of Engoron’s judgment will also be put on hold, including the portions barring Trump, his two eldest sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and other top Trump Organization executives from running New York companies, according to the ruling by the Appellate Division, First Department.
The court also agreed to pause part of the ruling that banned Trump and his family real-estate holding company from applying for loans in the Empire State.
Trump had asked the First Department to either lower the bond amount or allow him not to post one at all while he appeals the case.
His attorneys had said he
couldn’t secure a $454 million bond and didn’t want to sell his properties at “fire sale” prices to come up with the funds.
James — whose office prosecuted the case — said she wouldn’t hesitate to seize his prized Big Apple buildings if Trump didn’t pony up the money.
Neil Pedersen, owner of surety bond agency Pedersen & Sons,
told Business Insider Monday that the appeals court’s decision to significantly reduce Trump’s bond is an “extremely rare” occurrence.
The ruling from the First Department on Monday left in place Engoron’s order that an independent monitor — who has been reviewing Trump Org practices for months — be given more oversight powers. It also left the portion of the ruling requiring the company to hire a compliance officer to report to the monitor.
Trump must file his appeals in time for the First Department’s fall session of oral arguments, in September, the order says.
Engoron — who oversaw the nonjury trial for three months last year — found Trump had committed business fraud and ordered he pay the hefty penalty Feb. 16.
Trump lawyer Alina Habba lauded Monday’s decision.
“We are extremely pleased,” Habba said in a statement.
A spokesperson in the AG’s Office said Monday that the ruling doesn’t let Trump off the hook.
“Donald Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud,” the statement said, noting that if Trump loses the appeal, he and his co-defendants will still owe $464 million and daily interest of $112,000.
Trump has maintained his innocence in all his cases.