(New York) A New York judge on Wednesday rejected an offer of $100 million in security provided by Donald Trump to cover less than a third of the fine for financial fraud within his real estate empire to which he was sentenced mid -FEBRUARY.
The former US president appealed Monday the judgment of the Supreme Civil Court of New York (a court of first instance) of February 16 ordering him to pay $355 million in financial penalties. Not counting the amount of interest amounting to more than 100 million.
Monday’s appeal also sought a court order ban on Mr. Trump and his two adult sons Donald Jr. and Eric from running businesses in New York State for three and two years, respectively.
Instead of guaranteeing the full amount of the fine, Mr. Trump’s lawyers filed an appeal Wednesday in another court — the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court — to “post a bond of 100 million dollars,” according to an extract from a nearly 1,800-page court document made public.
This is a guarantee that the former president (2017-2021), who intends to be re-elected in November, can pay if his February 16 appeal — before a separate court and without a new trial — fails.
But at the end of the day, a judge from the appeal section of the New York Supreme Court, Anil Singh, rejected the request for “temporary suspension of the implementation of the financial judgment” of February 16.
Clearly, Mr. Trump will have to provide a guarantee of payment of the entire fine.
For his lawyers, the amount set in mid-February by Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron is “exorbitant and vexatious” and the “general ban” on running businesses in the state is “illegal and unconstitutional” making it “impossible to ‘insure and submit a complete guarantee certificate’.
PHOTO DAVE SANDERS, NEW YORK TIMES ARCHIVES
Judge Arthur Engoron
On February 16, Judge Engoron sentenced the former President of the United States 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, along with Donald Jr., Eric and their Trump Organization family group, into a civil trial for fraud that It is held from October to January.
It later calculated that the amount of the fine with interest would amount to more than $450 million. On his X account on Sunday, Mme James reassessed that amount to $464.8 million.
The tycoon, who made his fortune in real estate and upset the democracy of the world’s leading power, criticized a “totally bogus” judgment and verbally attacked magistrates James and Engoron.