New York fraud case: Trump ordered to pay nearly $355 mn, barred from doing business in state for 3 yrs

Former United States president and current presidential hopeful Donald Trump has been ordered to pay $354.9 million to the state of New York in penalties for fraudulently overstating his net worth to dupe lenders, a judge ruled on Friday (Feb 16). According to a report by the news agency Reuters, Justice Arthur Engoron also banned Trump from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation for three years.

Justice Engoron cancelled his prior ruling in Sept last year that ordered the "dissolution" of companies that control pillars of Trump's real estate empire. He said on Friday that this was no longer necessary because he is appointing an independent monitor and compliance director to oversee the 77-year-old Republican's business.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

In his ruling, Engoron said that Trump and the other defendants in the civil fraud case were incapable of admitting the error of their ways. "Their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological. Instead, they adopt a 'See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' posture that the evidence belies," he said.

The case

The civil fraud case came into light after a lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James accused Trump and his family businesses of overstating his net worth by as much as $3.6 billion a year over a decade to fool bankers into giving him better loan terms. Trump's two sons- Eric and Donald Trump Jr were also found liable in the case and ordered to pay more than $4 million each.

The former president faces no threat of imprisonment as the case is civil and not criminal. Friday's ruling is a major blow to his business empire and financial standing.

Justice Engoron said on Friday that Trump and his companies' past run-ins with the law were part of the reason for the stiff penalties. The Trump Organization was found guilty of criminal tax fraud in 2022, and two other entities Trump ran previously settled allegations of wrongdoing brought by the state of New York, Reuters reported.

During a trial testimony in November last year, Trump conceded that the value of some of his propertieswere inaccurate but insisted banks were obligated to do their own due diligence.

'Crooked Biden"

Trump has accused President Joe Biden of driving the civil fraud case calling it "weaponisation against a political opponent who's up a lot in the polls", and vowed to appeal.

"A New York State judge just ruled, and he's crooked as you could get and a lot of people expected something like this, but not for the amount. But this is a very dishonest man. This is a man that's been overturned already on this case four times," Trump said on Friday.

"This judge thought Mar-a-Lago is worth 18 million dollars and it's worth anywhere from 50 to 100 times that amount. So, we realized that. He ruled against me before he even got the case. He ruled against me, said I was guilty. He didn't know what I was guilty of before he even got the case. And Letitia James, that's another case altogether. She's a horribly corrupt attorney general, and it's all having to do with election interference,” he added.

Also watch |US: Fani Willis blames Trump co-defendants of 'lying' in court about misconduct

His lawyer Alina Habba, meanwhile, said in a statement that the ruling was a "manifest injustice" and the "culmination of a multi-year, politically fueled witch hunt" against Trump.

"This is not just about Donald Trump - if this decision stands, it will serve as a signal to every single American that New York is no longer open for business," Habba added.

(With inputs from agencies)