Trump speaking to reporters in Florida about the judicial ruling against him (French)
A New York judge ruled Friday that Donald Trump must pay about $355 million for fraudulently overstating his net worth to deceive lenders, marking another legal setback for the former US president in a civil case that puts his real estate empire at risk.
Judge Arthur Engoron, in a sharply worded decision issued after a controversial three-month trial in Manhattan, also banned Trump, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination this year, from working as an officer or director of any company in New York for a period of three years, while Trump’s lawyer, Alena, pledged Welcome to appeal.
Engoron also banned Trump and his companies mentioned in the lawsuit from applying for loans from any financial institution in New York for 3 years, which could limit his ability to obtain credit from major American banks.
The judge overturned his previous ruling issued last September, which ordered the "dissolution" of the companies that control the pillars of Trump's real estate empire, the Trump Organization, saying that was no longer necessary because he appoints an independent monitor and director monitoring Trump's business compliance.
A printed page from Judge Arthur Engoron’s ruling against former US President Donald Trump (Reuters)
Trump denounces
Engoron wrote in the ruling that Trump and the other defendants in the case “did not acknowledge the error of their means,” noting that “their complete lack of remorse and remorse amounts to sickness.”
The lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James accused Trump and his family companies of overstating his net worth by about $3.6 billion annually over a decade to trick bankers into giving him better loan terms.
Trump, who faces criminal charges in four other cases, described the lawsuit as political vendetta by Democrat James.
Trump denounced the “sham” trial, and said in a statement on his platform, “Truth Social,” that “this decision is completely and totally sham,” describing the judge as “crooked” and the prosecutor as “completely corrupt.”
In a statement to reporters at his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Trump stressed that “no fraud occurred,” denouncing “the exploitation of the judiciary against a political opponent who is significantly ahead in the polls,” and said that he decided to appeal the judicial decision.
Lawyer Haba also confirmed in a statement that the ruling is “an injustice... and the culmination of a political witch hunt campaign that has been going on for years” against Trump.
Source: Agencies