NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 3: Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears in the courtroom with his lawyers for his civil fraud trial at New York State Supreme Court on October 03, 2023 in New York City. Former President Trump may be forced to sell off his properties after Justice Arthur Engoron canceled his business certificates and ruled that he committed fraud for years while building his real estate empire after being sued by Attorney General Letitia James, who is seeking $250 million in damages. The trial will determine how much he and his companies will be penalized for the fraud. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton-Pool/Getty Images)
New York Attorney General Letitia James asked New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur F. Engoron to fine former President Donald Trump, his oldest sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, and the Trump Organization $370 million for business fraud.
James filed her motion to Engoron, who oversaw the civil fraud trial, on Friday.
The filing took place in advance of the closing arguments in the civil fraud trial, which are set to take place on January 11.
In 2022, James originally demanded $250 million from the former president and his company, charging that it had falsely increased the property values of his real estate empire. The valuations allowed him to obtain benefits through lower insurance and borrowing costs.
During the trial, more valuations were revealed to be fraudulent.
“The conclusion that defendants intended to defraud when preparing and certifying Trump’s [financial statements] is inescapable; the myriad deceptive schemes they employed to inflate asset values and conceal facts were so outrageous that they belie innocent explanation,” James said in her filing.
In September 2023, Engoron ruled that Trump, his two eldest sons, and the company were legally responsible for the fraud. He also ordered that their certificates to do business in New York be canceled, but this penalization was adjourned while the case was being appealed.
On January 5, Trump’s attorneys argued Engoron must dismiss the allegations against him.
They wrote in their briefs that the majority of the transactions in James’ complaint had been beyond the statute of limitations.
The attorneys also said that Trump’s statements of financial condition did not consist of major exaggerations and that the attorney general did not illustrate any impact Trump’s actions would have in the real world.
Trump asserted that there were no victims since the banks had been repaid with interest.
He also argued that Engoron and his top clerk were partisans and had not offered fair treatment in the case.
According to James, the unopposed testimony from a banking expert, Michiel McCarty, supported a penalty of $370 million.
“Defendants reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains through their unlawful conduct,” James stated in her filing.
In December 2023, Trump, while attending a hearing in his New York fraud trial, made the false claim that 90% of this case would disappear after his daughter, Ivanka, was spared as a defendant in the case.
Since October, Engoron has been receiving an increasing number of threats against him via phone calls, e-mail and voicemail messages. The threats started on October 3, the day that Trump began posting about the judge on Truth Social.
Engoron fined Trump two times for having violated the gag order, ordering the former president to pay $15,000.
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