The judge presiding over Trump’s fraud case in New York has ordered him to pay $354 million in penalties, in addition to millions more in interest.
The previous administration led by Donald Trump and his company are required to pay $354 million in penalties, which increases to $453.5 million with the inclusion of pre-judgment interest.judge ruled Friday
In New York, they have their own.civil fraud case
The highly anticipated decision also prohibits them from applying for loans from New York’s financial institutions for three years, and imposes a three-year restriction on Trump holding positions as an officer or director in any New York corporation.
largest corporate sanctions
Trump has promised to challenge the decision in the history of New York.
the administration from enforcing the policy in Arizona
The decision made by the judge also prohibits the government from implementing the policy in Arizona.Allen Weisselberg
The previous chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, and Jeffrey McConney, former corporate controller, are prohibited from holding any officer or director positions in a New York corporation or other legal entity for three years. They are also permanently barred from being involved in the “financial control function” of any New York corporation.
What’s next for Trump following the civil fraud ruling in New York?
James
filed the lawsuit
In 2022, the request was made to the judge to prevent Trump from conducting business in the state and to impose a fine of $250 million, which was requested by her office.increased to $370 million
At the conclusion of the trial.
Trump and his legal team had anticipated a loss, as the ex-president denounced the case as “fixed” and a “fraud” while his attorneys prepared for an appeal prior to the ruling being made.
Prior to Friday’s decision, the judge had mostly agreed with James’ claims that Trump and his colleagues at his organization had engaged in misconduct.
Overstated appraisals of his real estate assets.
Over the span of ten years, he falsely claimed to have billions in wealth and actually earned hundreds of millions.The scheme
The state claimed that it was designed to deceive banks and insurers in order to obtain more favorable terms.
In September, Engoron declared that Trump and the co-defendants were responsible.liable for fraud
According to the information provided in the legal documents filed before the trial.
The trial, which began in October and
concluded in the month of January
The attention was directed towards other elements of the legal case involving claims of manipulating business documents, releasing deceptive financial statements, committing insurance fraud, and participating in a conspiracy.
The financial penalty James sought, known as disgorgement, is meant to claw back the amount Trump and his company benefited from the scheme. (Under New York law, disgorgement cases are
Determined by a magistrate, not a panel of peers..)
Ivanka Trump, the daughter of the previous president and a former executive at the Trump Organization, was initially included as a defendant in the lawsuit. However, an appeals court later dropped the charges against her, citing the state’s time limit for filing legal claims.
What were the allegations against the Trumps?
The legal case presented seven reasons for action – the accusations of unlawful behavior that the Office of James stated allowed the state to recoup unjustly gained profits and justified harsh penalties against the defendants.
-
Fraud that is ongoing and happening multiple times.
Continual and Recurring Deception
- Falsifying Business Records
- Conspiracy to Falsify Business Records
-
Creating inaccurate financial documents
- Conspiracy to Falsify False Financial Statements
- Insurance Fraud
-
Plotting to Engage in Insurance Fraud
The allegations center on financial reports provided by Trump and his company to financial institutions and insurance companies. These reports were created by professional accounting firms using sets of data, which included significant exaggerations of the values of Trump’s properties.
The defendants were unsuccessful in their initial claim of persistent and repeated fraud, even before the trial began.
his reputation.
Trump may choose to appeal the decision, but it will still harm his reputation.his finances in the process.
a total of $5.5 billion in his previous cases”
There is a possibility that Trump could potentially decrease the harm through an appeal, but he would have to pay a $350 million appeal bond for this case and a total of $5.5 billion for his previous cases in order to appeal.
The amount of money awarded in E. Jean Carroll’s case is $83 million.
John Coffee, a law professor at Columbia University and an authority on corporate governance and white collar crime, cautioned that this will be an expensive endeavor.told CBS News.
by
On September 26, a decision was made regarding fraud.
In September, Engoron and James’ office reached a consensus that, according to the evidence provided in pretrial filings, it was indisputable that Trump and his company had given banks financial statements that falsely inflated his net worth by billions.
In his September 26th decision, Engoron stated that the documents provided clearly display deceptive appraisals that were utilized by the defendants in their business dealings.
In a ruling, Engoron discovered that Trump and his company had exaggerated the worth of numerous properties by hundreds of millions of dollars. He noted that the Palm Beach Assessor had assessed the value of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club as between $18 million and $28 million for every year from 2011 to 2021, which were the same values used for calculating property taxes. However, during that same time period, Trump reported the property’s value as between $328 million and $714 million in his annual financial statements.
Trump repeatedly brought up the Mar-a-Lago valuation, expressing dissatisfaction with it during public events, on social media, and as part of his defense during the trial.
Trump’s testimony at the trial
During the proceedings that started on October 2 and lasted over three months, Donald Trump and three of his children gave testimony.
Ivanka Trump
Her siblings claimed they were unable to remember a significant portion of the exchanges involved in the lawsuit, which included discussions surrounding the pursuit of funding and insurance for Trump’s real estate projects.Eric and Donald Trump Jr.
Both parties tried to shift the responsibility onto the company’s accountants, alleging that they played a minor role in the creation of financial documents that misrepresented the worth of the company’s assets.
However, Engoron concluded that there was enough proof to show that Eric and Donald Trump Jr. knowingly and deliberately falsified business records. He also discovered that Eric Trump intentionally provided McConney with knowingly false and exaggerated valuations for the Seven Springs estate, which is owned by the Trump family, located in Westchester County, New York.
The former president th
I testified on November 6th.
“Pausing to speak to the press before entering the courtroom, he expressed his sadness for the state of our nation.”
During the court hearing, he provided lengthy responses that appeared to be trying the judge’s patience. At a certain moment, Engoron directed his comments towards Trump’s attorneys, expressing frustration and asking them to intervene.
During ongoing questioning, Trump stood by the values assigned to different Trump Organization properties and pointed out that the company’s financial statements contained a disclaimer releasing him from liability for any errors.
Engoron’s ruling condemned Trump for his failure to address numerous inquiries, resulting in a negative impact on his credibility according to the judge.
In general, Donald Trump did not often give direct responses to the questions posed to him. Instead, he frequently interrupted with lengthy and unrelated speeches about topics that were not relevant to the trial. This lack of direct and complete answers greatly weakened his credibility.
The Trumps’ legal team claimed that the financial reports were precise and of high quality, and that the evaluation process is based on personal opinions. They asserted that the records James’ lawyers labeled as proof of deceit were instead evidence of Trump’s exceptional abilities. They argued that any inaccuracies or deviations from standard accounting practices were the responsibility of his accountants.
The ex-president also accused his accountants, but argued that his financial records underestimated the value of his assets and overall worth.
According to Trump, my value exceeds the numerical value stated.
Reporting was contributed by Jake Rosen and Aimee Picchi of CBS News.
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Source: cbsnews.com