According to his lawyers, former US President Donald Trump is unable to provide New York justice with a guarantee that he will pay $454 million in fines for financial fraud within his real estate empire, following his conviction in civil in February.
In a 5,000-page legal document posted online, Monday March 18, by the appeal section of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, for Manhattan (trial court, Editor's note), the defense of the Republican candidate to the presidential election explains that guaranteeing such a sum is “almost impossible”.
“The amount of the judgment, with interest, exceeds $464 million,” or $355 million plus $100 million in interest for Donald Trump and eight million plus interest for his sons Donald Jr. and Eric, “and very few companies are considering a guarantee voucher [a judicial bond] close to this magnitude", protest the lawyers, who say they have approached around thirty insurance companies.
Which means that in the absence of a 100% guarantee on the fine, the appeal filed by Donald Trump in February before another court, but without a second trial, will not be suspensive: the man business and political tribune will thus have to pay the entire amount by March 25, under penalty of seeing some of his real estate seized by the courts.
The New York billionaire denounced in a press release Monday evening a "witch hunt" and denounced a fine "unconstitutional, un-American, unprecedented and practically impossible for ANY company, including a company as successful as mine ".
The appellate section of the New York State Supreme Court rejected a $100 million guarantee offer on February 28.
An “exorbitant and vexatious” fine
The former president and his two adult sons also appealed the ban on running businesses in New York State for three and two years, respectively.
Their lawyers had ruled in February the amount of the fine "exorbitant and vexatious" and the "general ban" on running businesses in New York "illegal and unconstitutional" already considering it "impossible to insure and post a guarantee complete".
In a resounding judgment on February 16, New York judge Arthur Engoron sentenced the ex-president to pay $354.86 million in fines for financial fraud and, each of his two sons, four million dollars.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James filed a complaint against Donald Trump in October 2022 and forced him, his sons and their Trump Organization group to a civil trial for fraud from last October to January.
The tycoon, who made his fortune in real estate before upsetting the democracy of the world's leading power, criticized a "totally bogus" judgment by publicly denigrating magistrates James and Engoron.
With AFP
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